Shinigami
by Seras4545
Summary: Ranma dies of a fatal disease that defies all treatment, but finds that the afterlife is not what he expects. He is drawn, in the usual chaotic way of his life and apparently his death, into a conflict that transcends even death. RanmaBleach Xover.Ch6 up!
1. Death

Shinigami

Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545

A/N: Yo! Sorry bout starting so many stories, but they just won't stop. Anyways, this is a Ranma-Bleach X over, Pre-Saffron. Hope you like it.

A/N/A: I've edited the second chapter! Thanks for all the advice and help, everyone!

Chapter 1: Death

Ranma lay in his bed, wracked with excruciating pain. His heart felt like it was going to burst, which probably wasn't far from the truth. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down into his eyes and mouth but he paid no attention, the pain was so great. As the pain subsided he sighed in relief and wondered idly how he had been laid low. He barely noticed those around him, mainly because his sight had gone a few days before, though he appreciated the vigil they kept over his emaciated body. He knew that he was dying and despaired in the face of his mortality.

Many had visited him, even those he would have called enemy long ago. All were saddened by the sight of his wasted body, kept alive only through the nutrients and pain killers provided via several IVs all over his body. The monitor that showed his vital signs revealed to all how his heart was failing, how it beat so quickly, yet his blood pressure continued to drop and his body grew weaker and weaker.

The pain returned to him and he felt hands restrain him as his body spasmed with the intensity of it and Ranma retreated into the darkness of the deepest recesses of his mind...

About a month earlier...

Ranma swung the bat and scored yet another home run for his team. It was currently P.E. period at Furinkan and Ranma was again ruling the field of the sport he decided to participate in. This time it was baseball and the opposing team groaned as four more people ran to home base as one of their catchers went to fetch the ball.

Ranma ran behind them, proud of his perfect record in the sport. He never failed to hit a home run when he was at bat, nor did a ball ever escape him as a catcher. He crossed the home plate and then started to walk over to the dugout when his sight blurred and pain arced up his spine and chest.

When Daisuke noticed his friends face suddenly contort in pain and then fall to his knees he knew something was terribly wrong. He ran over to Ranma and heard his labored breathing and then saw no outward sign of injury he turned back to the others in panic.

"Hey guys! Somethings wrong with Ranma! Someone call 911, quick!"

At first everyone thought it was a joke. After all, what could hurt Ranma? No one's been able to hurt him for a long time, he always wins his fights. They were suddenly convinced when Ranma began to scream in obvious pain. Something really was wrong.

One pulled out a cell to call an ambulance while another ran to get a nurse and still yet another ran to get Akane and Nabiki. The others ran to help Daisuke restrain Ranma as he began to convulse. Whatever was attacking Ranma had not lessened his strength by much and many were hurt before they managed to get a hold of his limbs and held down his body with three or four to each. Ranma didn't notice as he was too absorbed in pain he had never felt before, pain so intense and widespread that he couldn't focus, couldn't defend himself against it and he was engulfed in unconsciousness...

He first woke in Tofu's office. The good doctor turned to see his patient awake and smiled in relief. "Oh, thank goodness you woke Ranma. Here, drink this."

He attempted to get Ranma to drink something that smelled a bit strange to Ranma. Ranma waved it away however.

"What happened to me doc? What was that pain? What's going on?" Ranma was alarmed to find that his voice had grown weak and it hurt all over to speak.

He briefly noticed that both Nabiki and Akane were standing off to the side, both wearing very worried faces.

Doctor Tofu also looked worried and looked frustrated as well. "I'm not sure Ranma. The ambulance is prepping to take you to a hospital. I've never seen anything like this before. It's too far beyond my skill."

Ranma wondered what could possibly stymie someone with the medical knowledge and skill of Tofu when he felt the pain start to grow again. Seeing the look of pain cross Ranma's face Tofu proffered the cup at Ranma and this time Ranma drank it without a second thought and felt the effects take place. He fell into a blessedly painless sleep...

He woke once more, this time he was in a bed in a very white, featureless room. He tried to move but found that he was attached to a monitor and an IV.

"Oh, he's awake!" a female voice said. Soon both Nabiki and Akane entered his vision, still appearing worried but relieved at the same time.

"How are you feeling Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"Is there any pain?" Akane asked.

Ranma was touched by how much they actually cared. He thought over their question and probed his body for signs of stress. Surprisingly he found none, he found absolutely nothing wrong.

"I- I feel fine. A little tired I guess."

He could see the tension ooze out of their bodies. "Oh, thank Kami!" they both said in unison.

Then a doctor walked in. Ranma saw on her name tag that she was called Nia Matsumoto.

Nia walked up to her patient and smiled when she realized that he was awake.

"So, any news, Matsumoto-san?" Ranma asked politely, his voice still slightly weak.

Her smile faded into a frown at his question.

" We're not sure. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you that we can find. We have taken some blood, marrow, and tissue samples though and we should know in a week or so if there is something truly wrong."

"A week!" Akane exclaimed.

"Is it really going to take that long?" Nabiki asked.

Matsumoto nodded her head. "I'm afraid so. He doesn't show any symptoms of any physical injury or illness. In all regards, he seems to be in more than perfect health. We are going to test and examine the samples we obtained for viral infections and any other abnormalities. However, all the tests we performed to find if he had a virus had shown negative so if he does have one it is a new strain and will take us time to identify it and what it does. I'll have to ask you to stay in the hospital though, Saotome-San. We can't afford for you to have an attack while away."

Ranma didn't like it, he really did feel fine now, but the look the doctor was giving him and the steel in her voice brooked no argument. He acquiesced and the doctor smiled as she injected something into his IV and left.

Ranma's exhaustion returned and he fell asleep once again...

He was aware of few other moments except for the few times he became lucid enough to understand what was going on around him. He felt the days pass by with little change.

He remembered the first time the attacks began in the hospital. It struck without warning when the sedatives were wearing off and Ranma was overwhelmed as it swept through his body, starting with his heart. It took the combined strength and Nabiki, Akane, Genma, Happosai, Nodoka, Soun, Ryoga, Shampoo, Mousse, Cologne, and even some of the hospital staff to keep him from hurting himself and others around him. He barely noticed when Matsumoto took yet another blood sample. She then injected something into Ranma's IV and he felt the pain recede as the darkness took him...

The attacks recurred many times and each time it took it's toll on Ranma's body, making it weaker and weaker. For the first few times Matsumoto would take a sample of his blood before sedating him but soon even that stopped.

One day Ranma woke to find himself pain free and lucid. There wasn't anyone around at the moment but he could feel them beyond the door to his room. He tried to sit up but found that all his strength seemed to have left him.

He heard a voice through the door, talking to the others. Ranma reached into his reserves of ki and was glad to find them intact. He used a bit to enhance his hearing to hear what was being said.

"... It's like nothing we have ever seen. It hides itself from detection while it is building up and then launches a ravaging attack on the patient's body. It seems to concentrate around the heart however, attacking that vital organ first. It is a strain of virus never seen before, no case has been found of it except Saotome-San's." _That must be the doctor._ Ranma thought.

"Can you help him, though?" Kasumi's voice filtered through the door.

"Yes, can you help him? Please do whatever you can." Nabiki.

"I'm sorry. I don't know if we can. We might be able to formulate a cure to it but even if we do it won't be in time to save Ranma's life."

"What! But..." Akane, who sounded close to tears surprisingly to Ranma.

"I'm sorry, I really am. We are doing all that we can. The best we can do is make him more comfortable and suppress the pain. All we would be doing is delaying the inevitable."

Ranma heard the doctor walk away after a pause and when the door opened he looked over to see Nabiki, Akane, and Kasumi enter. They all looked as if nothing had happened but Ranma could tell that they were just trying to act calm for his sake.

"I heard. So, how long do I have to live?" Ranma asked with a grin, though it was strained and not really genuine.

They all stiffened in surprise and a little guilt, then finally Akane broke down and ran at him, crying. He hugged her to him as she cried her heart out.

He felt glad that she cared about him this much, though it was a bit too little, too late.

"Shh... It's alright Akane." He tried to comfort her, though he felt like he was the one who needed comfort.

"B...but...S...s...she said..." she tried to get around her sobs but couldn't seem to bring herself to say what the doctor had told them.

"What? What did the doctor tell you?" Ranma asked, fear edging into his voice despite his best efforts.

"She indicated that you have only t-two weeks, at best, Ranma-Kun." Kasumi said. Ranma could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. There were no tears in Nabiki's eyes but he could see the pain hidden within, bottled up in public for now.

Ranma's estimated life expectancy stunned him. "O-only two weeks! At best?"

Grief winning the war for control, Kasumi nodded as tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Ranma's heart began to beat faster as he thought of how little time was left to him. Then the pain ripped through him. The last thing he recalled was the sound of Nabiki's voice calling for help as Kasumi and Akane held him still, something that was getting easier and easier, to their despair. It meant that whatever this disease was, not even Ranma's extraordinary immune system could fight it for long.

At first drugs helped Ranma with the pain and sometimes even save him from it completely, though it was at the expensive cost of time, something that he had very little of. Eventually though the pain increased to such intensities that it even reached him through his drug induced coma and after the first couple times it happened he refused to take any drugs thereafter that would keep him from being able to enjoy the time left to him.

In about three days from then he was released from the hospital with some monitoring equipment and IVs into the care of Tofu and Ranma's family and friends, saying that beyond dulling the pain slightly they could do nothing more for him. They even hoped that a miracle would occur as they often did with Ranma and that he would make an astounding recovery and return stronger than before. After all, he had returned the stronger from wounds and illnesses that would have killed lesser men. So Ranma left to spend what time he had left among family and friends.

At first it seemed their hopes were well founded as some potions that Cologne brewed and administered to him gave him more vitality and even allowed him to get up and walk on his own. However, he always suffered a relapse that brought new levels of pain to his body that rendered him unconscious. Cologne forbid the use of the potions after the third relapse. She just couldn't explain what was happening to him, it seemed the disease evolved to overcome any attempt at treatment and grew deadlier each time one brought him relief. The last relapse had laid Ranma out for over thirteen hours and had ravaged his body unchecked, wasting away all his excess fat and beginning to break down his muscles.

Immersed in his pain and thoughts, Ranma merely rode the attack out so that when it ended he could make the best use of his time.

Those who took care of him watched in increasing horror as the disease took it's toll on his body as the days passed by. His muscles wasted away and atrophied and what fat was left to him was burned up in his body's attempts to fight the disease, his eyes sunk deep into their sockets and Ranma became more and more reminiscent of the sickly Gosunkugi than most liked to admit.

He tried to make the best of his time and spent it either with visitors or he read novels of science fiction and manga. He found them relaxing and allowed him to escape his own trials and pain in the lives and worlds of others, in short he found one more thing that he enjoyed though it was far too late to enjoy it fully.

Then his sight began to fail as the disease attacked the optical nerves and he had increasing trouble reading the words and seeing images. He could just barely make out the features of those who visited him and those of the characters in the manga. When his sight gave out completely others, mainly Nabiki and Akane along with Kasumi occasionally, as he could tell from their voices and ki, read the novels out loud and would also describe the scenes and what was happening in the manga when they visited him.

However the pain was getting worse and worse and struck him with increasing frequency and fury, leaving him with less and less time between attacks and his body was being pushed to it's limits...

Ranma sighed as the pain finally left him and his consciousness returned. It had been nearly three weeks since he was diagnosed with two weeks to live. He suspected it was due mainly to the potions and the increased stamina and energy that his martial arts training had given him that had allowed him to last this long. He knew that he wouldn't last much longer against this invader of his body and that his time was short. He had tried everything he could to stem the attacks, even going so far as trying to send his ki throughout his body to burn it out, but to no avail. The disease plowed on toward his inexorable death, barely even slowed by his best attempts, sometimes it even seemed strengthened by it.

He heard someone enter the room and reached out with his ki. It turned out to be Nabiki who was approaching with a glass of water.

"Here, Ranma, drink some water. You need some liquid in your system, your body is drying out from lack of it and the fever." She said, holding the glass out to him, knowing he would find it easily with his ki from previous experience. She had spent the most time taking care of him and reading to him after his sight was lost.

Ranma knew that it was a mere kindness on her part, in the long run it would make no difference if he took in enough liquids or not. He took the glass anyway and flashed a grateful if pained smile in the direction he sensed her. He began to drink, letting the cool liquid soothe his parched throat and tortured tissue, giving him some small amount of comfort. Then his hand spasmed, shattering the glass and spraying the remaining water over the bed along with small shards of glass.

He felt the disease roar through him and he somehow knew instinctively that this was a full out assault and this time he wouldn't survive it. It had a distinct sense of finality about it. When Nabiki went to get help he grabbed her wrist in a surprisingly strong grip for how much damage had been done to him.

She looked back at him and saw him shake his head, his face grim. She knew then that this was it, these were his final moments in this world.

"Please, Nabiki, just stay with me." Ranma whispered past the pain ravaging his body and mind. Nabiki hesitated at first but seeing the pleading look in his eyes she sat next to him and held his hand, keeping silent.

"Thanks." He said softly, then turned as a fit of coughing took him and covered his mouth. When it abated he was not surprised to find his hand covered in slightly congealed blood. While not as obvious as his other failing organs his lungs were taking fatal injury as well, the virus eating it from the inside and allowing blood to fill them.

Nabiki took out a handkerchief and silently cleaned the blood from his face and hand, silently crying, her tears leaving salty tracks on her face.

Ranma felt the disease rip through his body and tear him apart from the inside like he was made of tissue paper. He felt his heart fail first, then his liver, lungs, and kidneys followed soon after. His mind began to fade as it felt the lack of oxygen and blood flow and he could fill the blood bubbling up in his lungs, filling them slowly and painfully.

"...N..Nabiki..." He whispered.

"Yes, Ranma?" Nabiki responded, saddened to see the proud, strong, vibrantly alive martial artist brought down so easily by this disease.

"I... I'm scared. I don't wanna die yet..." He got out before blood stopped his words as it flowed over his lower lip.

"I know... I know Ranma..." She said in between sobs as his eyes lost their inner light and glazed over in death, his hand went lax in her grip, and the blood flowed freely from his mouth.

Crying loudly and in earnest now, Nabiki closed his staring eyes and cleaned the blood as best she could. Hearing Nabiki's sobs of anguish and grief, Kasumi and Akane rushed into the room and saw Ranma lying lax and ashen, dead, rigamortis already setting in.

It was a sad day indeed at the Tendo household, many grieved Ranma's passing, friend, foe, and family alike.

No one grieved more than Nabiki, however. She had been with him in his last moments and her grief at seeing him pass on like that was so intense that she actually refused to eat or even go to school for weeks after his death. Eventually though they moved on with their lives, the world not slowing, time not willing to stop its gears that grind on toward the future, not even for Ranma Saotome...

Nabiki would never forget, however, how Ranma had died. How she had lost one of her greatest friends and someone she had discovered she loved far too late. She would never forget, and she would never stop loving him...

A/N: I know this chapter is really dark and gloomy, but please bear with me for now. I really don't like writing such sad chapters, but it was something that had to be done. Besides, I felt that Ranma's death had to be dramatic in some way. Figures though, don't it? A supernatural disease that even fought magic concoctions and the inner energy of the body and soul to take down a martial artist who had enough potential to take on a demigod and win...

Hope you liked it!

Seras Out. Till Next Time!


	2. Death God

Shinigami

Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545

A/N: Wow. Such a spirited response. Thank you so much for all the reviews. I'm not sure if I can keep up the kind of quality that I had in my last chapter as it required a special kind of mood for me but I'll try to meet your expectations of me. Oh, and I will give character rundowns as they appear, including types of characters and weapons. They will appear as they do in the story and will be updated as the status changes. Oh, and for those of you wondering, I was planning on having Ranma become a shinigami or an equivalent of one. Sorry this took so long but it is quite long and required extensive material from the Bleach anime. Also, about the Matsumoto thing, I had forgotten that there was a vice captain named Matsumoto, so it was unintentional, but I may use that to my advantage. BTW: I decided to skip the scene of the second day in bleach.

This is a re-edit! Thanks for all of your help everyone!

New Terms/Worlds

Hueco Mundo: The Hollow World.

Reiatsu: Spirit energy, much like ki except it is for spirits.

New Character Types

Shinigami: Regulators of souls who send pure souls to soul society, or heaven, and destroy bad souls, called hollow, wield weapons called zanpakutou. Also wield magic called way of the demon.

Hollow: Souls that are either rotten to the core or have lost their hearts because they have been in the world too long. They seek out and devour powerful souls of living or dead and grow in power as they do so. They are intelligent beings and have an as of yet unknown society and plans. Weaker ones have holes where the heart should be.

Spirits: Souls who have yet to be sent to soul society. They have chains called chains of fate that dissolve over time. When it is finally gone the heart goes with it and they become hollows. Can also be turned into hollows by other hollows.

New weapons

Zanpakutou: Katanas wielded by the shinigami. They have names and have a soul of their own deep within the shinigami's. Their size, power, speed, edge, shape, and abilities depend directly on the power of the shinigami's spirit and the abilities are usually unique to each personality.

New/Updated Characters(Only important characters are displayed.)

Ranma Saotome

Deceased at age 18

Gender: Male (Female with cold water)

Occupation: Abnormal Spirit(for now)

Specialty: Martial Arts and Ki attacks

Ichigo Kurosaki

Age 16

Gender: Male

Occupation: Highschool student and spiritualist.

Specialty: Interacting with spirits and martial arts of sorts

Appearance: orange spiky hair, kinda tall, about 6', mean look.

Rukia Kuchiki

Deceased at unknown age. Appears to be around 16 to 18. Says she is around 150 years old.

Gender: Female

Occupation: Shinigami

Specialty: Way of the demon(Magic) and philosophy.

Weapon: Zanpakutou

Appearance: Glossy black hair, Black robes usually, about 5'4" or so.

Renji Abarai

Deceased at unknown age. Appears to be between 18 and 23.

Occupation: Shinigami

Specialty: Stubborn and doesn't give up easily.

Weapon: Zanpakutou

Appearance: Around the same height as Ichigo, long red hair pulled into a warriors que. Black shinigami robes.

Kagame Fumetsu (Mirror of Eternity)

Unknown Entity.

Chapter 2: Death God

"We have no form, therefore we fear it, and because we are formless we revere it.

Thus, we are slain."

- The Hollow

Ranma had watched from his spectral viewpoint on the wall surrounding the Tendo compound as the Tendo family and his own and, to his surprise, even Ryoga and several of his rivals and so called fiancées grieved his death. It touched him that so many had cared enough to feel it when he died. In truth he had felt that no one besides the Tendo sisters had actually had any true feelings for him. Now he realized that he had had many friends, even some who hid the friendship under the guise of rivalry. Another thing that is now denied to him.

They had given his body a proper burial in a place of honor in his mother's clan's cemetery and had raised a shrine to him nearby the koi pond and Nabiki had somehow managed to enlist the aid of a sculptor who rendered a magnificent statue of him alongside his female form, standing together as if they were longtime friends. A plaque underneath read

**Ranma Saotome. **

**One who was cursed and had many rivals and trials in his short life.**

**Despite this however he has always brought cheer and happiness to all who have met him. **

**A strong and honorable martial artist and a friend to us all.**

**He will be sorely missed and will reside in our hearts and memories forever.**

Ranma had wondered at how much this would have cost Nabiki to have such an elaborate work done but did not look for though he was now not among the living he still had his honor to uphold, even if there was no one to see him break it.

Though it wasn't quite true that there was no one to see, as he had found out when he had gathered enough courage to leave the Tendo household and explore his new world. It was much like when he was alive though there were subtle differences, as if it was somehow skewed a bit or out of focus sometimes. He found that he could see everyone and even could touch them if he wished though he tried to avoid it as most were confused or downright frightened if it happened. He found that he could not walk through walls either, as he had found out when he first awoke after his death. He had been frightened when he had seen his own dead eyes staring back at him and had tried to get away from the scene as quickly as possible and had found that even after death you could feel pain as he ran straight into the wall and bounced off it, landing on his posterior.

After his initial shock of finding himself dead yet still in a world that mimicked life, Ranma had feared to leave the Tendo household, as if leaving would break whatever kept him here and he would be lost, unable to find his way back here to the ones he cared about most. He had eventually gathered that courage however and had ventured out, exploring the limits of what he could and could not do. Every once in a while he would come across someone who was dead like himself. He tried to talk to them but found that they either ignored him or yelled at him to leave them alone or burst into tears. Ranma figured that they each were trying to ignore the fact that they had died but could find no reprieve when they existed in the world of the living with constant reminders of their death all around them. So he started to avoid them as well. He really couldn't blame them, if he hadn't been through some of the crazy stuff in his life he might be freaking out more as well.

Then there were those among the living who could sense him, see him, and sometimes even hear him. He found that most of these people were more open and friendly, as if talking with spirits was nothing strange. Most of them told Ranma that in order to truly rest in peace he would need to find what was binding him to this world and finish his business here. Ranma had no idea however what was keeping him from 'resting' as they called it and noticed several things that separated him from the other spirits. He saw that while they had chains that flowed up and into their chests, he had none. He also noticed that they seemed able to fly through solid objects easily, while he was bound to the ground by gravity and still obeyed the laws of physics, at least those he hasn't broken before. He also found that while they never seemed to eat, he did feel hunger and thirst and fatigue as well.

_Why am I different? What is it that makes me stand out all the time? Why?_ Ranma thought as he rested on top of the wall, keeping an eye on the house and it's surroundings. He had taken it upon himself to keep the Tendo family safe, even when most only came to his shrine once a week. Though there was still one person who still visited daily.

Even as his thoughts turned to her she stepped out of the house and approached his shrine.

It was Nabiki. She was dressed in her usual shirt and short shorts and she had grown out her hair a bit, just down to where it barely touched her shoulders. She knelt down in front of the shrine and stared at the statue and the inscription, that's it, just stared. There were no prayers, no spoken thoughts or regrets. She just stared at it, sometimes even for an hour or more before returning into the house. Ranma never followed her within as he felt he no longer had a right to walk into that sanctuary any longer. He never saw the tears she shed while ensconced in her room.

This time was no different, she just stared and for some reason that blank stare disturbed Ranma, so, as he does whenever something disturbs him, Ranma left to take a walk.

He walked down to the area around Furinkan High and it was then that he saw his first Hollow, though he had no idea what to call it then. It was a monstrously huge creature, standing at well over eight feet tall, with a mask of pearly white bone and teeth and claws that looked dangerously sharp.

It was chasing a little girl and he saw that the little girl had a chain like that of the other dead people. Somehow Ranma knew that dying wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you and knew that if pain existed here then true death must also.

When the girl tripped and he heard the monster roar in triumph he sprung into action without a thought for his own life and safety, typical Ranma fashion. He leapt forward and delivered a brutal kick to the monster's head. Instead of feeling the head give under the force of his kick, however, Ranma felt as if he had just kicked an eight foot thick titanium wall. Pain shot up his leg and Ranma fell to the ground, stunned and completely off guard.

If the roar was any indication he had definitely gotten the thing's attention however, and Ranma knew that this was a really, really bad thing. Completely ignoring the girl now the monster picked Ranma up in it's tight iron grip and bit into his shoulder. The pain that the wound caused was incomparable, making the disease that had killed him feel like a common cold. Then revulsion flooded his being as he felt the monster lick the wound, causing the pain that had just dulled to flare up again.

Then it spoke. It's voice was grating and sounded as if it had a bad cold, a twisted parody of a human's voice.

"Well, what do we have here? A shinigami? No, he is too weak. Even the weakest of the shinigami I have devoured was stronger than he. But his spirit is undeniably irresistible, almost as tasty as a shinigami. Well, no matter, he shall feed me well, much better than that pitiful little brat."

Ranma struggled to escape the monster's grip to no avail, it was far stronger than he was at the moment. Ranma began to panic as the jaws distended and the mouth of the monster filled his view, it apparently intended to swallow him whole. Ranma struggled with renewed vigor as the monster brought him slowly toward it's mouth. He began to despair as even his best efforts seemed to have no effect, the monster was probably enjoying his futile efforts to escape it's grasp almost as much as it anticipated enjoying eating him.

Ranma view was soon filled by the gullet of the monster and he could feel the sickening vibrations of it's laughter as it prepared to drop him to his doom.

When the monster loosed it's grip and Ranma began to fall he briefly saw a flash of light reflected from metal, then his vision was engulfed in darkness. Then suddenly daylight returned as the body of the monster dissolved into glowing blue particles. He could clearly see where the monster had been bisected before the entire corpse disappeared.

Ranma slowly got up, favoring his right side where the monster had bitten into his shoulder and arm. He saw a girl, looking barely older than seventeen at most, carrying a katana and wearing black robes kept closed with a white sash. Her hair was raven black and fell just past her shoulders in thick locks, one hanging slightly over her forehead and right eye.

Despite her appearance Ranma could tell that she was much older and wiser than she looked and she carried great skill in her bearing and posture. He had no doubt who would be the winner in a contest between him and the mysterious woman.

She walked toward him with a serious and stern look on her face, sheathing her katana as she did, much to the relief of Ranma, who relaxed muscles he had not realized he had tensed.

"What the hell did you think you were doing!? You could have gotten yourself killed! If I hadn't been around you would have been killed! You are a complete fool..."

Her words trailed off as she noticed something strange.

"Where is your chain of fate? What are you exactly? Are you..."

She trailed off again as something began to beep and Ranma was surprised when she pulled out what looked like a mix between one of those hand held computers and a cell phone.

"Dammit, another Hollow? Stay here. I'll be back shortly. I have a few more questions to ask you." With that she ran off at a speed that impressed even Ranma. She was soon gone from sight and Ranma shook his head.

"What was up with her? She didn't even stay long enough for me to thank her." He said as he contemplated what he had learned. He wasn't about to stay in this area, not with those things, those 'hollows' as the woman called them, around. He briefly noted that his wound had already healed and the blood had disappeared, though he felt that that wasn't really important at the time. He looked around for a more defensible area to wait for her when he saw the girl. She was staring at him as if he was some strange creature in a lab to be studied.

"What? Do I have something or my face?"

The girl jumped a bit, then looked slightly ashamed. "Sorry, it's just that what that woman said was true. You don't have a chain attached to you. You're different somehow."

Ranma sighed, not wanting to be reminded that even in death he wasn't normal. Thankfully he hadn't been hit with water yet, so he hasn't been forced to find out whether or not his curse had followed him.

"It's alright. I'm not exactly a normal person, even in life. Look, were do you live err... stay or whatever you want to call it?" Ranma said, embarrassed by stumbling over his words so much. He hadn't gotten used to talking with the dead, nor with the idea that he himself was dead. "I'll walk you over there."

The girl brightened at this prospect. "Thank you. I don't want to meet one of those things again. I was actually going to meet a friend there."

Ranma was glad to be able to help someone, even in death. It filled him with a pride that hadn't faded with his demise.

"It's no problem. You're going to meet a friend you said? Is your friend um... dead?" He felt ashamed to ask this question, but he needed to talk to someone with some knowledge of what was going on, hopefully someone living as it seemed that the dead wanted to help none but themselves, with the exception here and there like the girl and himself. The girl didn't seem to be offended by this question at all however.

"No, he's alive. He's one of the few who can interact with the dead. He has two sisters who can as well, but not to the extent that he can. His family seems to have a talent for it. He sometimes gives advice to us spirits but he gets annoyed easily."

"Umm... Do you think you could introduce me to him?" Ranma asked, then remembered that he hadn't introduced himself yet. "Oh, oops. Sorry, my name's Ranma Saotome." He bowed to her.

The girl returned the bow with a smile. "Nice to meet you Ranma, it's alright if I call you Ranma isn't it?" When he nodded her smile grew wider. "My name's Kiko Mokana and I would be glad to introduce you to him. Come on, it's not too far away."

She began to walk off toward a wall when Ranma called out to her. "Hey, wait. Could we walk the normal way? I kinda, umm, can't walk through the walls." He said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

She turned and frowned a bit. "Umm... Sure, it will take a little longer though. Follow me."

She took to the streets. Ranma was glad that it was late afternoon as the streets were now almost completely deserted, so he was able to keep up with the girl without bumping into someone.

Eventually she led him down an alley behind some houses and they came upon a vase of flowers. He suddenly realized that this is probably where Kiko had died and he was saddened that she didn't take to living in her home as a spirit.

Suddenly his danger sense kicked in and he dodged as four skateboarder punks flew down the alley, knocking over the vase of flowers as they passed. Ranma was about to get them for that, ghost or no ghost, when a guy with orange hair stepped out of another side alley and kicked the lead skateboarder in the face. Ranma cringed as the punk slammed into the ground, hard, and didn't get up, obviously unconscious.

"outta the way. Get out of here." The newcomer said to the street punks. This seemed to infuriate them further, however.

"The hell's wrong wit' you? You suddenly kick yama-chan down and tell US 'out of the way'!" The punk in a white shirt said.

The orange haired stranger seemed quite annoyed with them and also looked slightly bored.

"Say somethin', you little..." White shirt began yelling as he pulled back to throw a punch

He never had the chance to finish his sentence nor hit orange hair as a foot was planted in his face. White shirt fell to the ground and orange hair lowered his leg and proceeded to stomp the crap out of the punk. Ranma had been impressed with the speed that the orange haired guy moved, he seemed to be a fair martial artist.

The three remaining punks watched on in fear as the orange hair continued to dish out punishment to white shirt.

"Whoa, Toshirin's gettin'..." One said.

"This is bad! This is so messed up!" Another said.

Orange hair seemed finished with his warm-up and stomped on white shirt's head hard enough to crack the asphalt. Ranma cringed as the guy's head sunk deeper and deeper into the pavement. _Ouch, that guy's gonna have one hell of a headache when he wakes up. Geez, I'd hate to see what that orange haired guy would do if he was really mad._

"Quit yakkin'!" Orange hair yelled as he pounded on white shirt's head one last time.

"All of you bastards, LOOK AT THAT!" He yelled and pointed at the spilled flowers and broken bottle. Ranma finally got his first good look at the guy and had to admit that he looked like he had one hell of a mean streak.

"Question one: What the hell is that? Yes, you in the middle!"

The unfortunate punk looked at his two friends and then pointed at himself as if confused by the situation. He was wearing a long sleeved purple shirt and had a black overcoat on along with a beanie and a rather dumb look on his face.

"Um, ah, a tribute for the kid who died here recently..."

"ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!" Beanie was suddenly cut off by orange hair's yell and the direct kick to the underside of his chin. Beanie flew back and the two remaining looked as if they feared for their lives.

"Mit-chan..." One exclaimed as the body hit the ground.

Ranma was again impressed with orange hair's speed. He doubted they even saw it coming. Though Ranma noticed that he seemed rather fond of using his legs and feet. He hadn't once used his arms, though that might be because he has a much longer reach with such large legs.

Orange hair turned his gaze on the last two punks. "Okay then, why would that bottle have fallen over?" He asked calmly.

Ranma could see the remaining two shaking as the fuzzy haired one replied while the one with a ponytail stood paralyzed.

"Well, we were skateboarding and knocked it over..."

"You bastards!" Orange hair's leg blurred as he delivered a spinkick that connected with both of them, such was it's force, though Ranma knew that it wasn't strong enough to knock them both out.

"I dare you to do that again!" He said as an ominous aura filled with darkness and flame surrounded his body. "I'll make it so people have to lay flowers for you too!" Ranma was yet again impressed by this stranger. It took a lot of energy to create an aura in the visible spectrum and even more to alter it to fool your opponent.

The two were rather convinced and as soon as they gathered their friends they high tailed it out of the alley shouting "We're so very sorry!" at the top of their lungs.

Orange hair sighed, seemingly satisfied. "If I scared them that badly, they probably won't come back here. He looked back and straight at where Ranma and Kiko stood.

"I'll bring some new flowers for you tomorrow." He said.

Kiko smiled at him shyly. "Thank you for chasing them away, Ichigo. Now I can rest peacefully, o-nii-chan."

Ichigo bent down and picked up the bottle and the flowers and placed them upright then straightened again. "You're welcome." He looked at Ranma and then looked him over. His eyes widened when he saw that Ranma had no chain. "Interesting. Who's this?" He asked, facing Kiko again.

"His name's Ranma. He helped me a little before. He seemed different from the rest of us, so I brought him to you."

Ichigo turned back to Ranma again, looking at him with a little more kindness. "I see. Well, come on then, Ranma." He said as he began walking down the alley.

"Huh?" Ranma said as he tried to recover from what had happened. He looked to kiko who indicated that he should follow Ichigo. "Thanks, kiko." He said as he rushed to catch up to Ichigo.

"Hey! Wait! Why are we leaving?" Ranma asked as he caught up.

"Because, I need to get home, so we can talk on the way. Though if you want you can stay at my place for a while. I've never seen a spirit without a chain before. On one condition though. Chase away all the other ghosts."

Ranma was about to laugh, thinking he was joking but noticed that Ichigo was quite serious.

"Wah? Why? I am a ghost you know, right?" Ranma asked, confused as to why Ichigo would want him to drive off the other ghosts.

"You're different from them. Besides, it's hard to get some peace and quiet when they hang around and bother me all the time."

"Oh." Ranma got it, at least he thought he did. It would be hard to get some rest if there was a lot of ghosts hanging around. He still remembered the incident with his female half's spirit and the cat spirit. He couldn't remember the latter without a shudder however. He still hadn't gotten over his fear of cats.

They traveled in silence until they got to a house that looked slightly larger and different from the others. It had a sign above the door proclaiming it to be the Kurosaki Clinic.

"So, your family runs a clinic?" Ranma asked, looking it over. It wasn't as big as Tofu's clinic but it was still fairly large.

"Yeah. My father's a doctor. My sisters help out too, though I'm not really much help except for lifting and such." He said, sounding depressed about something, probably about the fact that he didn't feel that he was of much help.

"I kinda know what you mean." Ranma really did too. Other than his fighting skills, he didn't have much to contribute to the Tendo household in the way of useful help. The best he could do was allow Nabiki to make as much money as she could to help out.

"We save and don't save lives. I don't really know if that's why, but ever since I can remember, it's been normal for me to see ghosts." He continued as he lead Ranma around to a gate at the side that led to the home it's self.

Ichigo opened the door and walked in. "I'm home." he said in a bored and tired face.

Almost as soon as they entered Ranma had to duck out of the way when a foot entered his view. Said foot continued on to connect with Ichigo's face.

"YOU'RE LATE!" The owner of the foot said. He appeared to be a man in his mid thirties or so, with a close cut beard, short and slightly spiky jet black hair, wearing a white doctor's apron over his normal attire of a yellow shirt with red oak leaves and branches and black pants. Ranma guessed this to be Ichigo's father.

"You punk of a son!" He continued as Ichigo lay, trying to recover, confirming Ranma's suspicion that this was Ichigo's father. Ranma was slightly reminded of his own father in a way, at least with the surprise attack.

"You know our dinner time is seven o'clock every night!" His father continued to berate Ichigo. Ranma wondered why he hadn't noticed him when he remembered Kiko saying something about only Ichigo and his two sisters being able to sense ghosts.

Ichigo flipped himself upright and face to face with his father, looking to be within inches of blows.

"Damn you! Is this how you greet your son who has gone out of his way to help ghosts on the way home?!" Ichigo's father seemed to get angrier and angrier as Ichigo continued.

"I don't wanna hear it! Only punishment awaits those who disrupt out family time! No matter what the reason is!"

They began trading blows at a speed that was on par with Ranma's, continuing to talk as they did. _Why couldn't I have met this family before I died? Ichigo would have made a great sparring partner._

"Or what, are you bragging that you're the only one who can talk to and touch ghosts?!" The father continued as they jumped apart and then leapt at each other, continuing to trade blows in the air, gaining more and more air time and height.

"Shut up! I didn't ask for this power!" Ichigo yelled back.

Ranma noticed the two girls eating dinner at the table, one with black hair and blue and black clothes, the other with dirty blond hair and still wearing an apron from when she had cooked the meal.

"Stop it you two. The food is getting cold." The blond haired one said, a look of worry and sadness on her face.

"Let them be, Yuzu. More please!" The black haired girl said as she held her bowl out to Yuzu, sounding tired, though Ranma may be mistaken and it is just her usual tone of voice.

"But Karin-Chan..." Yuzu began to respond when a mighty crash from a blow landing signaled the end of the fight.

Ichigo stood triumphant, though he had a highly annoyed look on his face and pointed angrily at his father.

"First of all, making a healthy male high school student come home at seven every night is unimagin..."

Suddenly a blue flame looking apparition appeared near Ichigo.

"Ichi, you have another guest." Karin stated as the flame resolved itself into a middle aged looking man wearing office attire and thick glasses. Ichigo looked at it with surprise and annoyance.

"What the, when did you..." He began to swipe at the ghost, trying to catch it.

"I keep exorcising and exorcising yet they keep coming!" He yelled in frustration.

When the ghost dodged near Ranma, Ranma caught it. Ichigo smiled his thanks to Ranma as he dragged the ghost out of the house.

"Please, let me stay!" The ghost pleaded in a pitiful voice. Ranma truly felt sorry for the aimless spirit but he had a deal with Ichigo.

"Sorry friend, but it's the orders of the spiritualist. No strange ghosts in the house." Ranma gathered his energy and hurled the ghost as far as he could, knowing that it wouldn't truly harm the spirit. Satisfied that the ghost wouldn't be coming back for a long while, Ranma went back inside the house.

"Ichi has it rough being hi spec." Karin said, looking back at Ranma and Ichigo.

"But you know, I'm kinda jealous. I can sense presences but can almost never see them." Yuzu said, looking at her brother with admiration.

"I don't believe in ghost and stuff, so..."

"What?! But you can see them too, can't you? Dad's the only one who can't see them."

Karin turned back to her younger sister with a bored look on her face. "Regardless if you see them or not, if you don't believe, then like they never existed."

Yuzu looked on with disbelief. Ranma too was slightly shocked. _She can see us, but still doesn't believe in us? That's kinda cold._ Ranma thought and had a feeling that this was a dangerous policy for the girl. He walked up to the kitchen table and Karin looked back at him, or rather looked through him as if he wasn't there.

"What if they could touch you? What if they could harm you in some way? Would you believe in them then?" He asked.

Karin blinked lethargically. "No." She answered simply.

Ranma was boggled by her attitude and stance on the subject. How could you see something and even feel it, yet not believe in it?

Suddenly Ranma heard a crash and turned to see Ichigo go down from a surprise attack by his father. His father soon had him in a grapple and pinned him to the floor.

"Your guard was down!" He yelled triumphantly. Then suddenly Ichigo threw him off with a show of great strength. They both threw a punch and landed on each others faces, disfiguring the cheeks slightly. Ichigo had landed a more solid hit, more square than his fathers, and his father slumped to the ground.

"Forget it, I'm going to my room. Come on Ranma." Ichigo said and began walking off, motioning for Ranma to follow.

Ranma followed him up the stairs and into another room. He could vaguely hear conversation and arguing in the other room. Ichigo flopped himself down on the bed near the window with a sigh and stared at the ceiling for a while. Ranma decided to stand to one side of the window while waiting for him to start talking. He had an itchy feeling that told him that he might need to move quickly soon.

Ichigo sighed again and looked at Ranma. "So, if you don't think this is too rude, how did you die?"

Ranma blinked, then smiled weakly. "Nah, it's not rude. Well, the best way to sum it up is a strange virus attacked my body and killed me off in about three weeks. Doctors couldn't figure out what it is, and they couldn't cure me either. It just kinda came out of nowhere."

Ichigo seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I think I heard of that. You're very lucky, in a different sense."

"Huh?" Was Ranma's response, not understanding how things had turned out was in any way 'lucky'.

"That virus could have been contagious, but it wasn't. Good thing for you, your friends, and the hospital. They didn't follow protocol and allowed you to have visitors and let you out of the hospital with a strange, unidentified virus. Things could have gone really badly, but lucky for everyone, it didn't." Ichigo explained.

"Um... Hello? I am dead here." Ranma said, amused and annoyed at the same time.

"Oh, sorry. I meant to say that it could have been much worse. It could have started an epidemic, much like the black plague."

"It's alright. Say, do you know why I am different?" Ranma asked, the feeling he was getting was stronger now and was making him impatient.

"Well, other than the obvious fact that you are missing the chain, I don't know how are different from the others."

"Well, I can't phase through solid objects and I need to sleep and eat and drink still."

"Hmm... Yeah, that's definitely different. Sorry, but I can't really help you there. You are actually the only ghost I've met who is different from the others."

"Oh." Ranma's hopes of learning how he was different sunk as Ichigo revealed his lack of knowledge.

"Sorry I couldn't help." Ranma looked at Ichigo and he truly did look sorry that he couldn't help. That lifted Ranma's spirits a bit, that a complete stranger could care about him.

"It's fine. Sorry for leaving so quickly but I think it's time I got home." Ranma said, putting on an air of false cheerfulness. His feeling of needing to get back had grown to an urgent siren in his head.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for dropping by." Ichigo said, returning the smile.

Ranma leapt out of the open window and landed gracefully on the ground and started out at a full run, eating up the distance quickly.

Ichigo watched as Ranma disappeared into the distance, wondering why he was in such a hurry. _I've got a bad feeling about this..._ He thought as he lay down. Suddenly a girl in black robes appeared on his windowsill...

Ranma was running at full tilt, avoiding all obstacles that he could, smashing through those that he couldn't, his feeling of urgency driving him on. He nearly skidded on the slick pavement as he turned a corner and ran down the street with the drainage trench to his right. Soon the Tendo Dojo came into view, just in time for him to see one of those monsters from earlier rip into the roof and pull something out.

Ranma began to panic as he saw Nabiki's lithe form in the beasts grasp. As he got closer he noticed that this monster was quite a bit larger than the last and, he had no doubts, much stronger. The thing began to lift Nabiki to it's mouth and when Nabiki began to scream Ranma truly did panic and did the only thing he could think of.

"Moko Takabisha!" He yelled and put all the energy he could spare into the shot.

The monster turned as he shouted and took the brunt of the blast right in the mouth. There was a blinding flash followed by a roar. Ranma just barely saw the monster drop Nabiki and dived under her and caught her before she could hit the ground. Ranma looked down at her and saw her staring at him.

"R-ranma? Is it you? OH RANMA!" She yelled as tears began to pour down her cheeks and buried her head in his chest. Suddenly pain exploded in Ranma's head as the beast hit him from the side during Nabiki's distraction. He and Nabiki went flying and Ranma lost his grip on her and she flew to the ground and rolled into one of the posts that held the patio roof up, her momentum stopped suddenly with a sickening thud.

"Nabiki!" Ranma yelled. He ran to her motionless form and quickly examined her head. He sighed as he found only a lump and a cut, her pulse still strong and her lungs still working. He turned to the monster, fury burning through his mind. _Damn! I threw a near full power moko takabisha at it and it doesn't even seem fazed! _"Damn you, you bastard!" He yelled in frustration.

Ranma tried to think of something he could do but the monster attacked again. He jumped over it's swing and was about to land when the hand came back and smashed into his other side, flinging him like a rag doll through the wall of the compound and putting a good sized dent into the asphalt. He got up, trying to clear his head when he heard the monster roar it's triumph over him.

_Damn, it's just too strong! Nothing I can do seems to even affect it. At this rate everyone will die... Father, Mother, Soun, Kasumi, Akane... Nabiki..._ Tears of frustration began to build in his eyes, burning their way out of his body.

The monster then picked Nabiki up and began to squeeze, her pained shrieks ripping through Ranma. _No, not her... Not Nabiki... Not her... "LET HER GO!"_ He screamed, anger and helplessness boiling in his mind. "YOU BASTARD!"

Ranma leapt at the thing, disregarding his own safety. He put all the ki he could afford into one punch that landed square on the thing's jaw. He was satisfied to hear a crunch as part of the jaw cracked from his blow, though he held his fist in pain. When he looked up however, Ranma began to truly despair as the monster seemed to just shrug off the blow, apparently more irritated than hurt.

"Damnit! What does it take to hurt this thing?" Ranma panted, his reserves spent on that punch.

As the monster brought Nabiki back up to it's mouth, seeming to smile as it did so, Ranma felt a strange feeling sweep through him, and suddenly he was elsewhere...

He looked around at the strange landscape, not knowing what to make of it. He stood on a bamboo pole amidst a forest of them, stretching on as far as the eye could see. He looked down and saw that they peaked at a dizzying height, the pools of water below only specks of shimmering water. He looked up and was overwhelmed by a sense of vertigo when he saw the scene mirrored above as well. It seemed different somehow, though. Darker, more malevolent, twisted.

"Where the hell am I?" Ranma shouted as he tried to get over the sense of vertigo that had flooded him at the sight.

"Your soul." A female voice from behind him spoke up.

Nearly jumping out his skin, Ranma whirled around to be faced by... Himself? Or should that be herself?

Ranma's curse half looked at him with amusement, clearly unfazed by the strange world around them. She was wearing a black chinese dress that had two dragons twisting and turning around her body, One red the other blue, dancing sinuously with each other until their heads met on her chest, their fangs bared at each other as if ready for battle.

"My soul? What do you mean? Who are you?" Ranma asked, wondering why he was here. Then he remembered what he had been doing and started to panic. "Crap! Where's Nabiki? Where is the monster?"

"Calm down. It's alright. Time has no meaning here. And yes, this is your soul, or at least the visual representation of it. As for who I am, don't you already know that?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"No, I don't, though I'm pretty sure it isn't Ranko."

She laughed at this, a bell like sound. "No, it isn't. Though it is a good name. My name is _Kagame Fumetsu_."

"Wha?" Ranma said, unable to make her name out. It tickled at the back of his mind and he felt that he should know it but something was distorting her speech, making it impossible to understand.

"I said it's _Kagame Fumetsu_." She repeated, looking to be getting frustrated.

"I'm sorry, I can't understand you." Ranma said, meaning every word of it. He had a feeling that knowing her name would be very important.

"You can't understand me, huh? Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. I can still lend you some power though. Enough to save her."

"What?" Ranma said, becoming more confused by the second.

"You want to save Nabiki, right?" Ranma nodded. "Well then, I'll lend you some power."

Suddenly a sword appeared in her hand, the blue dragon shimmered on her dress and then disappeared as it did, and she rammed it up to the hilt into Ranma's chest. Ranma felt the pain first, even worse than the virus. Then he felt the power bubble up and into his body, as if she had just tapped a spring of it within him.

"Try to remember this place, and try to remember my name..." He heard her saying as the world dissolved around him...

If one had been looking, one would have seen a blinding flash of light and then a column of it rising high into the sky.

Rukia and Ichigo both turned their heads in the direction of the Tendo Dojo, their fight with the hollow that had attacked them forgotten in the face of this event.

"Such power... It's unimaginable!" Rukia whispered, still clutching her wounded shoulder. Ichigo merely stared at the column of light, the visible form of reiatsu...

Nabiki awoke to see the monster in peices, it's parts dissolving, and nearby a column of light rose into the sky and at its source she could see a form in pure white robes. As her vision cleared and focused she could make out who it was and her eyes widened.

"Ranma...?" She whispered as her vision darkened yet again. But this time there was a smile on her face...

Deep in Hueco Mundo a hollow tilted it's head, as if listening to some far off note. "Hmmm... So, we have failed. Well, no matter. There are always those who strive to join us of their own will." The thing began laughing hysterically, it's fellow hollows retreating away into the shadows...

A/N: Yo, sorry 'bout the late update, but I had to think about how to go about this chapter quite a bit and just now decided on this course. Yes, I know that Ichigo was slightly OOC, but then I always thought that before becoming a shinigami he would treat ghost well for the most part. Oh, and for the term reiatsu, it is spirit energy, like ki is for the living. Hueco Mundo is the world where hollows reside. Hope you like the chapter.

Oh! And if anyone could tell me the name for the vacuum blade tachnique, I would be grateful.

Ja Ne!


	3. A New Body, A Reformed Soul

Shinigami

Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545

A/N: Thanks a lot everyone! Your input has been greatly appreciated. I have revised chapter two to address the major issues you had with it, mainly the soul scene and the name of Ranma's zanpakutou. His Zanpakutou still has a surname, but it is the only way I could describe her and her very unique abilities. Kagame Fumetsu means 'Mirror of Eternity' or 'Eternal Mirror', however you wish to read it, though I prefer the first translation. The word for Reflection (Hansha) just didn't sound right. Anyway, sorry 'bout the long wait for this chapter, let's get on with the show.

Chapter Three: A New Body. A Reformed Soul.

The power was amazing, unlike anything Ranma had ever experienced. It roared through him, giving him the feeling that he could do anything if he needed. When he became aware of his surroundings once more he noticed the sword the woman had stabbed him with was now resting lightly in his palm, shimmering with an odd light as if reflecting or mirroring everything within view at once. It was about four feet and eight inches long overall with a thick spine and an edge that looked razor sharp, a plain round guard and an undecorated hilt with ray skin wrapped around it in the traditional style of a katana. He took firm grip of the hilt and knew that it was made to specially fit his hand, conforming perfectly to every contour of his palm. He looked toward the source of his ire, the monster that was currently threatening both the life and the soul of Nabiki, and knew that this thing was now his mortal enemy, it and all like it. He wasn't sure about using the sword, not that he couldn't, he had been well trained in the use of most weapons, but he always felt uneasy using weapons to win a fight. However, he knew that he had to destroy the monster quickly to save Nabiki and he wasn't sure how strong he would be without it.

Ranma also noticed something else. The monster seemed to be moving extremely slowly, as if time had slowed to a crawl. When he saw the drops of water from the thing stepping in the pond falling slowly he realized that everything hadn't slowed down, his reflexes had simply been amplified. He smiled confidently. This would be easier than beating the crap out of Ryoga, even as slow as he is this thing was slower by far.

Ranma leaped at the creature, slicing the left arm holding Nabiki off midway between the elbow and the shoulder. When he landed and turned around he was startled to see the thing suddenly speed up and turn around toward him, roaring it's surprise and fury as it's burning gaze sighted upon the source of it's pain and frustration. Ranma could feel the power begin to roll off the creature in waves and was surprised when he saw a clawed fist hurtling toward him at an incredible speed. He raised his Katana just in time to deflect the attack and was still knocked back into the wall, destroying a small section of it. Ranma shook his head to clear it and to shake out the fragments of concrete in his hair. He looked at the monster with new respect for it's power, speed and intelligence, it had obviously hidden it's true power, probably to conserve energy and trick it's enemies into thinking it was weak.

Ranma spared a glance for Nabiki, seeing that she was halfway to the ground, still falling slowly. Ranma knew that he had to end this fight quickly and catch Nabiki, or she might be injured from the fall. A fall from the height of the monsters shoulders practically guaranteed broken bones and a concussion for a non martial artist.

The monster saw him glance toward Nabiki and seized the opportunity to strike, thrusting it's clawed hand at him and Ranma was again only barely able to deflect the attack, managing to cut off part of the creature's hand off. Now missing an arm and two fingers, the beast retreated slightly and Ranma thought he had won for now. Then he watched in horror as the missing appendages began to regenerate themselves. When they were completely recovered, a process which had taken frighteningly small amount of time, the creature roared it's renewed defiance and fury. Ranma dodged the creature's first attack, grabbing Nabiki as he passed by and laid her down gently. He turned to face the horror that threatened them both now, turning to face them and it's bony face showing anger, preparing another attack.

_How in the hell do you kill one of these things?_ He thought as the creature began it's charge. Then an idea hit him and he smirked. "Well then..." He said as he readied himself. He jumped over the first swipe, landing on it's forearm and ducked the second swipe from the other arm as he quickly scaled the arm, readying himself for a horizontal slash. "Lets see you regenerate this, you bastard!" He yelled as he reached the shoulder and swung, slicing easily through the bone plating, severing the head into two at the point where the jaws met. As he did he felt a sudden flood of energy from where he held the katana, flowing in from his palm. Light burst forth from his body in a column for a little, then retreated back within his skin and he suddenly felt weak as the energy left him, retreating back into the blade he wielded.

He stood there for awhile, panting from the sudden loss of power, not completely understanding what happened. He stared at the sword he held in his hand for awhile and was astonished to see it begin to change color, becoming the same shade of his skin and then being absorbed into his body. He stared at the point on his palm where the blade had disappeared without a trace. _What the hell is going on here?_ He wondered, shaking his head in confusion. He looked to where Nabiki was and decided to get her inside. It was still in the depth of night and it was cold out. He started walking over to her and noticed then that he wasn't wearing his normal clothes. He was wearing some kind of white and black samurai robes that clung to him and limited his movements, with sandals instead of his usual black kung fu shoes. He felt a wave of sadness as he looked at them. Nabiki had given him the pair he had been wearing at Christmas last year, his old ones finally having been worn down to rags. It had been one of the few possessions he had that he truly treasured, along with the scarf that Akane had given him and the book on chiatsu pressure points that Kasumi and Tofu had given him.

As he thought of his old garments his new ones began to shimmer and then seemed to melt, reshaping themselves, and before long Ranma was staring at his usual garb. Ranma stood amazed for a second, feeling the familiar silk beneath his fingers. Then he immediately began to explore this newfound ability, altering the size, shape, and color slightly with merely a thought. _This could be very useful_. Ranma thought with glee, anticipating it's applications in battle.

A groan brought Ranma's attention back to the unconscious Nabiiki and he mentally kicked himself for having forgotten her. He went over to her and checked her for any injury. Finding none but some bruising and the lump on her head, he let out a sigh of relief. Then she began to stir. She groaned a bit more and then slowly opened her eyes and stared right at him.

"Ranma?" Ranma could hardly believe what he was hearing. She could see him?

"Wait, you can see me?"

"Of course I can, why wouldn't I?" She said, seeming to have forgotten the past couple months.

"Um, well... 'cause I'm dead, Nabiki." Ranma said and braced himself for the worst.

Instead of the outcry of sorrow and pain that he expected from the way Nabiki had acted after his death, she reached up and cupped his cheek with her right hand and Ranma could feel the gentle warmth of her skin against his.

"You feel alive enough to me, Ranma-kun. Though I don't know why." She said with a smile, and Ranma could tell by the tears welling up in her eyes that she had not forgotten his death. Then she buried her face in his chest and started crying earnestly.

"Oh, Ranma! I thought I would never see you again! I.. I've missed you!" She managed through her choking sobs. It wasn't until the door to the house opened that Ranma realized what a racket they were making.

"What the hell's going on here!" An angry and tired looking Akane yelled, wielding a bokken over her head. The rest of the family stood behind her in a huddled group, staring at the scene.

Akane sighted Nabiki first and immediately noticed the large lump on her head. "Nabiki! What happened?! How did you get that lump on your head?..."

Finally she noticed the one holding her. "And who are you? Why are you holding my sister like that? You... YOU PER... vert... Ranma?"

Akane's outburst lost power as Ranma picked Nabiki up and stepped into the light, illuminating his features. Akane's eyes widened and Ranma could see the tears welling up as the situation hit her.

"H.. How...?" Soun began, Genma simply staring blankly at the son he thought dead. To be honest, Ranma hadn't seen his father for a long time after he had died and now that he did he saw that Genma was much the worse for the wear. No longer was he the fat, lazy looking man that he was. He had thinned considerably and now merely looked stocky and slightly undernourished, muscles that had been hidden in fat now revealed, though slightly lax from lack of use. Ranma now saw the effects that his death had had on the old man and knew then that even though his pops was insensitive and often acted rashly in regards to Ranma, he still cared greatly for his son and only child.

Ranma smiled weakly at them. "I'll explain later, I think it's best to get Nabiki inside." Nabiki had fallen asleep, tears still staining her cheeks, her arms still wrapped around Ranma. He walked toward the entrance and as he came close everyone moved apart, still staring at him as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. He proceeded through and up the stairs, everyone following behind him silently, and entered Nabiki's room and lay her down on her bed, covering her with the blanket tenderly.

He turned to see the rest of the family looking at him curiously and keeping their distance in the hall. He left the room, making sure to shut the door as he left, and faced them.

"Well? What are you staring at?" Ranma said with a smile, trying not to burst out laughing. He wasn't sure how they could see him but it made him feel great that they could. Soun looked like one of the koi he kept in his pond, Genma looked stunned and still a little dazed, while Kasumi still smiled, though Ranma could tell from experience was one of her sincere smiles and not one of the masks she put on for the family. It was then that he noticed that Akane wasn't among their group.

"Hey, where did Akane go?" He asked as he looked around for the missing tomboy.

"She went to her room, Ranma-kun." The ever helpful Kasumi answered, as if he had never left.

"Thanks Kasumi, I'll talk with her later. Actually, would you mind telling her what I tell you guys and have her come see me when she's ready?" He asked, giving her a pleading look.

"Of course I will. Before you start however, let's all go back down to the common room and I'll fix up some tea. Does that sound alright?"

"That sounds great, Kasumi! And maybe some of those snacks you always make…?" He asked, reinstating the puppy dog look.

"Oh alright. I guess even ghosts get hungry." She said and walked off before Ranma could say anything else.

Everyone else followed her down the stairs and Ranma went down a little after, feeling the walls as he did. He wondered why they felt so different. When he was a ghost he could touch things and was aware that they were there, but he never felt the item itself, nor did any of the food he ate have any taste. He still felt pain and heat and cold, but in a strange detached way, as if he wasn't quite feeling it himself. Now he felt everything as when he was alive, in fact he felt as if every nerve was firing twice as much, as if he was more alive than ever. Ranma had no idea how but he was living and in a body again.

He took his hand from the wall and caught up with the others, forming an explanation as he went. He decided to tell them what he could, but nothing of Kagame. He reached the room and seated himself in precisely the same place that he and Genma had sat two years ago, when they had first arrived at the Tendo household.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, Kasumi putting the kettle on to boil for tea then sitting directly opposite Ranma. Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously, trying to figure out how exactly he should explain.

"Ahem. Well, I'm not quite sure where to start." Ranma said, lowering his hand and looking at the others beseechingly.

"Just start at when you left us, Ranma-kun." Kasumi said with a comforting smile.

"Well, all right..." Ranma said, preparing himself to relate his adventures in the spirit world.

He told them almost everything, carefully leaving the scene with Kagame out and the use of a sword, simply ending his battle with the hollow with the Moko Takabisha.

He told them of when he had awoken to find his body below him, how he had first traveled beyond the walls of the compound, how he had met the first hollow and the girl and the black robed woman, his fight with the second hollow and how he had felt an immense burst of power...

o0o

"... And now it seems I'm alive again. The body I'm in is real." He ended simply, tired from his storytelling and suddenly wishing he could go to sleep. The tea cup in front of him had long since been emptied, Kasumi having brought in the tea about a third of the way into the story.

Everyone seemed to be thinking of his story and what it could possibly mean and how there were monsters even in the afterlife. Then Genma suddenly perked up.

"What about the engagement boy?" He asked excitedly. Ranma rolled his eyes. _Figures that that is the first thing he thinks about asking._

It wasn't till he was about to answer that he noticed the glares everyone was directing at Genma. Even Kasumi, one who is ever pleasant, was giving him a cross look.

"Whats goin' on guys? Pops? Why are you giving him such dirty looks?" Ranma asked, confused. Apparently he had missed something when he was dead.

Kasumi gave him a sad, pitying look. "I'm sorry, Ranma-kun. Apparently uncle Genma forgot already, but... Well... Akane, she's got a boyfriend."

Ranma was completely stunned by this revelation. _Akane has a boyfriend? Who? When? How?_ These question whirled in his head for awhile until he realized something that been kinda odd. He remembered seeing Ryoga around more and more often and had a sinking feeling in his gut. He looked at Kasumi with a pained and questioning gaze.

"It's... Now please don't get mad at him Ranma... It's Ryoga. He seems to have overcome his problems with his sense of direction and now he's dating Akane. Oh, please don't take it out on him, Ranma. It was Akane who asked him out after all."

Ranma could feel the rage boiling and building up as Kasumi confirmed his suspicions. Then when he heard that Akane was the one who had asked him out the rage vanished, leaving a strange empty feeling in it's place.

"... I see..." Was all that he said. Then he got to his feet and left the room, slowly climbing the stairs.

"Oh, poor Ranma." He heard Kasumi say faintly. That drove him even further to be alone. He didn't want pity, all he wanted was someone to be there for him.

He entered Nabiki's room, silently shutting the door behind him. He saw that she was still asleep and made sure to make no noise as he sat down next to her bed and finally let himself sift through his own feelings.

It wasn't that she was dating his rival, nor that she had betrayed his trust as they never really had any to begin with No, what truly saddened him was that she had gotten over him so easily, as if everything he had done in her life and everything they had been through together meant absolutely nothing to her. He couldn't hold anything against Ryoga, the guy has been pining after Akane for ages now anyways. No, it was Akane to blame but Ranma couldn't even hold a grudge against her. All he could feel was bitter pain at being forgotten so easily.

"You really are the only one who cared about me, Biki-chan. Oh, Kasumi cares, but you are the only one who came to my shrine every day. Sorry that I never noticed how much you actually cared till I died. Maybe some day I can make that up to you." He said quietly, knowing that Nabiki was asleep and couldn't hear him. He was talking more to himself than anyone else, solidifying his resolve. He would devote himself to Nabiki now and no one would get in his way when it came to her.

He silently left and closed the door behind him. Unnoticed, Nabiki opened her eyes and stared at where Ranma had stood a moment before. Tears glistened in her eyes.

"Thank you, Ranma. And thank you Kami-sama, for giving both of us a second chance. I will do my best." She said faintly, then slowly her eyes drooped closed again and she slept, though it was with a smile on her face this time.

o0o

Ranma woke when he was suddenly splashed with water and groaned aloud when she noticed that the curse still had hold of her.

She looked up at the source of the water and saw her father setting down a bucket and then looking at her with an expectant look on his face.

"What the heck did you do that for, oyaji?!" Ranma yelled at her father.

Genma merely smirked.

"Time to get up and spar, boy. If you had that much trouble with those monsters then you've gotten soft." He said with a condescending look.

As usual her father knew exactly how to push her buttons to make her angry. She got up from her bed and when he jumped out the open window she followed with angry zeal. They began to fight over the koi pond like before she had died, though her father seemed a little faster and was putting more energy into the fight. When she noticed this she realized just how much her father had missed her and decided to put her all into the fight as well. After all, she had been out of practice as she had no opponents on the other side except for the monsters who just wanted to eat her, not actually fight and improve each other's skills.

Surprisingly her father kept up very well and they sparred for much longer than usual, keeping to simple physical attacks and techniques so as not to destroy the yard. Ranma wasn't sure if her father could keep up with her ki based attacks. The fight finished with Ranma grappling with her father, a task much easier now that he had lost much of his girth, into submission. Then they got up and bowed to each other, without any last minute sneak attacks for a wonder.

Ranma heard clapping and saw Soun off to the side, having watched the entire fight from the dining room. She and her father walked in to join him for morning tea that Kasumi had prepared.

"Good fight you two. Seems that everything is finally returning to a semblance of normalcy around here for once. No, wait, I would have to say that the mood is even better. You two seem to be getting along much better than before." Soun said with a smile, glad that his best friend and his friends son were finally getting along.

Ranma looked at her father and saw the emotion in Genma's eyes and knew that, though her father was not very emotional nor open about his emotions, he did love her, without a doubt and was better for having his part son-part daughter back.

He heard a noise behind him and saw Nabiki in her nightclothes descending the stairs, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She saw him and smiled tiredly.

"'mornin Ranma. Father. Mr. Saotome." She said with only a little fatigue in her voice.

"Morning." They all chimed in at once.

"How are you feeling, Nabiki?" Ranma said, suddenly at Nabiki's side.

"Just fine, Ranma. A little dizzy from that bump yesterday, but fine." Nabiki said with a smile.

"You really shouldn't be walking around yet. That was one nasty bump." Ranma said, worry on her face. _In truth, she shouldn't be able to walk at all yet. How is she recovering so quickly?_

"I'm fine. In fact, except for the dizziness, I'm better than fine. I haven't been this energetic in the morning in a long time." She said, brushing past Ranma and into the kitchen where Kasumi promptly handed her her morning cup of coffee.

"Ahh. That hits the spot." She said after taking a swig of her java.

Ranma stared for a minute and then looked around, expecting to see Akane come in from her morning jog, as she usually did around this time of day. It was then that he noticed that her ki hadn't moved from her room.

"Is Akane still in her room?" He asked.

Nabiki gave him a searching look, then nodded. "Yeah. She hasn't come out at all since you came back. I think it's hitting her really hard about now."

Ranma started up the stairs with a grim expression.

"I wouldn't go up there if I were you, Ranma."

"I've got to talk to her. We need to settle things between us. Otherwise this will always bother us." Ranma said simply and continued up, ignoring Nabiki's warning.

She went down the hall and knocked on Akane's door. He heard some fumbling and a muffled "Who is it?" from behind the door.

"It's Ranma. Akane, we have to talk." Ranma said, her voice completely serious and unwavering.

"... Just a minute." Was the reply and soon he heard the latch being opened and Akane opened her door and looked at him.

She was a sight, her eyes red and swollen and tears still streaking her face. She looked as if she hadn't slept all night and Ranma suspected that to be the case.

"All right if I come in?" Ranma asked, noting that she seemed very tense.

She nodded and went over to her bed and sat down, her head resting in her hands. Ranma entered and closed the door behind her. She looked around and noticed several new things among her prized possessions. They looked to be items and souvenirs from all over the world and Ranma suspected them to be from Ryoga. _Well, guess he doesn't get lost very often anymore, but when he does, he really gets lost._ Ranma thought with a smile, seeing some souvenirs that were from all the way in America.

Ranma looked back to Akane who was looking at Ranma with apprehension. Ranma simply walked over and plopped herself down next to Akane. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Akane finally spoke.

"... I'm sorry, Ranma." She said, and Ranma could see the tears forming from the corner of her eye.

"For what?" She asked, as if she didn't know.

Akane gave her an incredulous look.

"For betraying me? For dating my rival? For forgetting me?" Akane winced at each accusation.

Ranma shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous."

Akane's head whipped around to look a suddenly smiling Ranma-chan in the eye.

"What do you mean? You're right, I did betray you. I'm an awful person." Akane said, tears flowing freely down her face.

Ranma's smile faded slightly. "No, you're not an awful person. I had died, and you did what any normal human would have done. You moved on."

Akane looked at Ranma in wonder, trying to figure out where the familiar, socially fumbling Ranma had gone.

"Do you love him?"

"... What..."

"Ryoga. Do you love Ryoga?" Ranma asked, her smile gone, her face showing no expression.

"I... Dunno... Maybe, I mean I think..."

"No, no maybes, no 'I dunno's. Yes or no. Do you love him?"

Akane was silent for awhile, her face showing that she was thinking hard on the matter. Then resolve and something else burned in her eyes.

"... Yes, I love him, deeply..."

Ranma's face broke out in a smile. "Well then, all is forgiven. If you love him then that is enough for me."

"... Wha..." Akane started, but Ranma had already gotten up and left.

Ranma headed downstairs and met Kasumi as she was on her way up.

"Oh, Ranma-kun. I was just about to get you and Akane. Breakfast is ready, come on down to eat."

Ranma flashed her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Kasumi, but could you put mine in a container to heat up later? I kinda got a lot on my mind and really don't feel like eating right now."

Kasumi looked slightly worried, after all since when did Ranma miss a meal? However she shrugged it off and smiled at her. "Of course, Ranma. It'll be in the microwave whenever you want it."

"Thanks, Kasumi." She said. She continued down while Kasumi went up to get Akane. She decided to get some fresh air and went out into the streets, wandering aimlessly as her thoughts sorted themselves out. She found herself at the park and went over to a bench near a pond and sat down, staring into the waters.

The reflections on the water reminded her of the sword she had used to fight the monster last night. As soon as she thought of that she felt a tingling sensation in her palm and then a sudden weight fell into it. She looked down and found the sword in her hand, ready to use and polished to a mirror sheen.

_So, all I have to do is think of it to use it?_ She thought as she stared at it's mirror surface. She got the feeling that there was a depth there that a sword shouldn't have and she looked at it more closely. Suddenly she was bathed in light and she disappeared from the world...

o0o

Ranma found herself in the mirror like world again, standing atop the poles.

"So, you have discovered how to manifest and how to enter your soul. Congratulations."

Ranma whirled at the sound of the voice, not losing her balance in the slightest. She was confronted with her male half this time.

"What... Why..."

"Why am I a guy now?" The young man finished for her, smiling. "Well, it's simple really. When you change, I change. It's not always that simple but for you, for now, it is."

"What do you mean by manifest? What's happened to me? What am I?" Ranma was mostly interested in the last.

"Manifest means to bring out your sword. What happened to you is that you have awakened the hidden power within your soul, namely me. What you are, well..." He actually seemed to have to think about it for a bit. "... I would have to say that the closest thing to what you are is a shinigami, though you are much different from them in many ways. You are very... Unique."

"Shinigami? Unique?" Ranma asked, even more confused than she was before.

"How should I put this? Well, might as well explain it from the top. You remember that thing you saw last night, correct?"

Seeing her nod he continued. "That thing is called a hollow. It is a spirit who is unable to rest for some reason and ran out of time. They have lost their hearts and mercilessly attack other souls, devouring them to soothe their own pain and loss and to become stronger. Now, a shinigami is something of a regulator of souls and soul traffic. They send wandering souls to a place called soul society, what you would call heaven in a way, and they destroy and purify hollows, also sending their purified souls to soul society. You are like a shinigami, but different, unique even. You will discover what I mean as you grow in power."

Ranma thought on this a bit, thinking it was just a little strange. But, she had gotten used to strange things in her life. Heck, she was a boy who turns into a girl with cold water and changes back with hot for heavens sake! So she took this in stride.

"So, what should I do?" She asked simply.

"Do? Well, you don't HAVE to do anything. But, if you want to grow in power, then find that young man, Ichigo, again. He too is like you, similar to a shinigami yet unique in his own way. He is being instructed by a shinigami himself and the lessons she will be teaching and the people she will introduce you to will help you greatly."

"Find Ichigo? Another shinigami? What..." Ranma began to ask but the world around her was already beginning to ripple and then went dark...

o0o

Ranma woke to find herself lying down on the bench and the sword was nowhere to be seen. She got up and stretched, grimacing at how drained she felt. _Find Ichigo, huh? Well, guess it's something to do._

With that thought she began to head home. Suddenly an explosion rocked the ground and she heard the screaming of a little boy.

She turned to see a little boy spirit being chased by a gigantic spider like hollow. She was about to intercept when she heard someone yelling. She looked to find some dark haired girl in a highschool uniform talking to...

_Well, speak of the devil._ Ranma thought as she saw the bright orange hair and black robes. There Ichigo stood arguing with the girl, holding a gigantic katana nearly the size of his own body. It looked like he intended to save the kid and Ranma decided to wait and see what happened, ready to jump in at any time if need be...

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: I know, everyone hates cliffhangers! And it did take me forever to get this new chapter out. All I can say is...

Author gets into a crouching position and bows rapidly while yelling

"IM SORRY! IMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRY!"

Really, I am, I'm really sorry for the cliffhanger and such a late post, but really, school kills most of my free time. Hope you liked the changes I made to ch.2 and hope you like this chapter. I'm now working on a new chapter for The Dragon Within so hope you like the chapter when it goes up!

Ja Ne!


	4. Ranma's Story

Shinigami

Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545

A/N: Yay! 100 reviews! Finally. This is the first story of mine to reach a hundred reviews. I'm actually kinda surprised 'cause this story only has three chapters so far, so I guess I must be doin' somethin' right in this story for it to be so popular. I'm in a really good mood now, so this chapter shouldn't take too long to write, I finally got the hang of Java Programming so I am really ecstatic. Anyways, time to destroy that hell blasted cliffhanger!

New Characters:

Sado (Chad)

Age: 16

Occupation: HighSchooler and living tank. LOL.

Appearance: Usually wears jeans and some kind of dark T-Shirt, has long brown hair that obscures most of his face and has a usually solemn expression. Is about 6' 3" tall.

Abilities: Immensely strong and has great endurance, even able to take the force of a full size steel girder falling on him with little injury. Develops ability to release reiatsu in focused blasts.

Inoue Orihime

Age: 16

Occupation: HighSchooler and general ditz, though extremely smart.

Appearance: Around 5' 11", long orangish red hair, six pointed star sapphire earrings, loose T-Shirt, jeans or skirt, always appears cheerful.

Abilities: Develops ability to manifest fairy like beings from one of her earrings, giving her the ability to heal, defend, and attack.

Ishida Uryu

Age: 16

Occupation: Quincy, Highschooler, Craft Club master of sewing and stitching, general genius.

Appearance: Around 6' or so. Medium straight bluish hair, glasses, rather thin, wears chain and cross on his right wrist, dresses kinda like a nerd, though a cool one.

Abilities: Can pinpoint Reiatsu signatures, manifests bow from cross on right wrist and shoots arrows of living energy, can develop rather strong tactics and strategies.

Abarai Renji

Age: Unknown looks around 17 - 24

Time of death: Unknown

Occupation: Lieutenant of sixth squad, Shinigami.

Appearance: Red hair, done up in warrior que, around 6' 1", intense expression and wears shinigami robes most often, has black tattoo like markings on his face and body.

Kuchiki Byakuya

Age: Unkown, looks to be around 25 - 30

Time of death: Unkown

Occupation: Captain of sixth squad, Shinigami.

Appearance: Aristocratic face, snow white hair done up in braid like things with a headpiece, generally bored or unimpressed expression, about 6' 2", Captain style shinigami robes.

Kon

Age: N/A

Occupation: Modified soul, supposed to fight and destroy hollows, placed in body of stuffed lion and is used to separate Ichigo's soul from his body in order to fight as a Shinigami.

Appearance: As Ichigo: The same as Ichigo, though without the serious and angry/annoyed expression. As stuffed Lion: Small, about 1' 6" to 2' tall, lion like face and ruff around neck, beady little eyes. Quite animated for a stuffed animal.

Abilities: None that are important as far as I can see.

Chapter Four: Ranma's Story

Ranma stood and waited, trying hard to keep from going to the kids rescue, wanting to see how Ichigo's argument would turn out and whether or not he would fight the hollow. For now, he just listened.

"Death gods must be fair to all souls! If you save that child, then be prepared to save all souls in need of help." The girl said, and Ranma found herself nodding to her words, seeing that they coincided with her martial arts code of honor.

"Wanting to save only those that you can see, only those that you can reach, this work isn't that convenient."

Just then the boy began to trip and Ichigo began to turn to help.

"Don't save him!" The girl commanded, halting Ichigo in his tracks.

"If you wish to save that child now, then you must be prepared to help all! Be prepared to save them all even if it means chasing them all around the world and sacrificing yourself!"

Ranma thought she was being just a bit too hard on the guy, it was ingrained into all martial artist to help the weak. Though it was true that they shouldn't only save those they could see and reach, asking him to chase them all over and save them all was a bit too much for one person, especially someone who is Ichigo's age, who probably has many other things to contend with.

She thought of her sword and it was instantly in her hand. She leapt forward as Ichigo was still stuck in indecision and cleanly sliced off the hollows head. The head and body soon disappeared into blue particles that dissipated quickly. She felt a rush of energy when it did and her body glowed once again, though not as much as the first time. She felt a little more drained than she had before, though, and her sword automatically receded back within her body. Though she did feel even more alive, somehow.

She turned to see the shocked faces of Ichigo and the girl.

"Sorry, but I'm not bound by your rules and logic. It's my duty to defend the weak whenever I can. As a martial artist, Ichigo is bound in the same way. I think you are being a little hard on him."

She leaned down to comfort the kid, who was currently crouching on the ground and crying. "Shh, it's alright now. I won't let one of those things eat you."

She heard someone approach from behind her. From the feel of their ki, it was Ichigo.

"Thanks. And yes, it is my duty to protect the weak. But duty is not why I would have helped. It would be 'cuz I wanted to. Thats the same for you, isn't it Rukia? When you saved me and my family, it was because you wanted to, not because it was your duty."

Ranma looked up at Ichigo and saw that he was staring hard at the girl, apparently Rukia. Rukia looked slightly shocked, as if she had never considered why she had helped in the first place, whether for duty or because she actually wanted to help. Ichigo nodded in affirmation of his guess. Then he looked to Ranma and made a silent request to approach the child. Ranma stood back to watch.

He knelt down next to the kid who looked up into his eyes.

"Hey kid, if you don't want to be scared like that again, then hurry and go to heaven." With that he lifted his sword and Ranma was horrified for a moment, thinking he was going to stab the boy, but then he reversed the sword and tapped the kid's forehead with the end of the hilt. When he lifted it there was a kanji for afterlife on him. The kanji glowed and soon the soul of the kid receded into the ground which was also glowing blue. Then both kid and glow were gone.

The girl came up next to Ichigo with a resigned look on her face. "Excellent soul burial." Was all she said to him. Then she faced Ranma.

"And who are you? Why do you have the spirit force of a shinigami? What are you? What was that glow? What happened to your Zanpakutou?" She asked in an accusing voice, obviously confused by Ranma's appearance.

"Um... I can't really answer any of those 'cept for the first, I don't even know what that last thing was.. My name's Ranma Saotome." Ranma said with a slightly apologetic look on her face. After all, Rukia acted as if she had done something wrong and if anything had gone wrong it was usually her fault, at least, everyone seemed to think so back when she was alive.

"Ranma Saotome?" Ichigo said in recognition, bringing his head up to look at the redhead. "True, you do look like him, but last time I checked, Ranma was a guy. And he had black hair and was a little taller and bulkier."

Ranma sighed, getting really tired of having to explain her curse to everyone she met. She resigned herself to explain, once again, and probably not for the last time.

"Well, it's a long story. Put simply, when I was on a training trip in China, I fell into a cursed spring in Jusenkyo, the Nyanichuan, or spring of drowned girl. What happens when you fall into a spring there, is you take on the shape of whatever drowned there last. I've gotten used to my curse though. All it takes is cold water to change me into a girl and hot water to change into a guy."

They looked incredulous, which irritated Ranma. "Alright, if you need me to prove it, then here!" She pulled out a cup from her subspace pocket, a technique she had coined from Mousse, and collected some water from a nearby pond and heated it up with some ki. She then dumped said water on her head.

He was amused by their shocked reactions. They were almost always shocked, guaranteed.

Rukia got a little closer and looked Ranma up and down, a slightly perplexed expression on her face.

"So it is you. The one I saved from that hollow the other day. So, you can change genders with water.. Well, that still doesn't explain this strange body you are wearing."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ranma asked, his curiosity piqued.

Rukia pulled out a glove with a strange skull on the back of it and put it on.

"I mean this!" She said as she shoved Ranma in the chest. Ranma fell back with a wrenching sensation and felt the world both dull and sharpen around him, as if he lost some senses but gained others. He picked himself up and noticed that once again he was wearing the white robes he had originally started with, though these had a white dragon outlined in black on one side and a black dragon on the other side, seeming to oppose one another. Neither of the dragons seemed to have their eyes open though, as if they slept. He was also carrying his sword once again.

Then he saw his body laying on the ground and nearly panicked, thinking he was once again dead.

"Don't worry, you're just outside your body now. Look at it closely though." Rukia said, noticing his panic and calming him, redirecting his attention to what she saw wrong with his body.

He looked a little closer and saw what was odd about it. It was incomplete. Bits and pieces were missing from his face and torso and his feet and part of his legs weren't there altogether!

"What.. What does this mean?" Ranma asked, wondering what in the world was going on.

Rukia seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment, Ichigo and Ranma waiting for her to think of some reason, then came to a simple answer.

"I don't know."

Ichigo and Ranma both facefaulted, cracking the ground a bit.

"You don't know?!" They both yelled in tandem.

"Easy! I do know someone who might know though. I'll take you to him. I was planning on going soon anyways." She said and began to walk away, obviously expecting them to follow.

Ranma and Ichigo looked at each other, then shrugged. Ichigo began to walk off as Ranma touched his body and realigned himself with it, being absorbed back into it. He felt the pieces that were missing be replaced by his own reiatsu and was then back in his own body. He then tried an experiment. He attempted to manifest his sword but found that it would no longer come out. _Hmm... That's strange. Maybe it has something to do with my body being reconstructed?_

He shrugged off the thought and hurried after the other two before they left his sight. They remained silent for most of the trip, only having slight conversation every once in a while but for the most part ensconced in their own thoughts.

Soon they turned down a side alley and after another turn came upon what looked like a convenience store, though it looked like one of the older kinds. Two kids were in the front, one a girl with blue hair done up in two ponytails, the other a boy with flame red hair that stuck up everywhere. The boy was currently using the end of a broom to push the girls head down.

"Even though you're lower than me..."

"No I'm not! I'm three years older than you!" The girl whined. Ranma got the feeling that she wasn't much for confrontations.

"Not age, Level! I'm talking level!" The boy said with a superior, though annoyed, look.

As he brought the broom up to push down on the girls head again, Rukia walked up and grabbed it from him, ending their little argument/fight.

The boy turned in surprise. "Who's there!" He said, before recognition lit in his eyes at the sight of Rukia.

"You never change, do you shorty?" Rukia said.

"Is the manager in?"

The boy gave her a very grumpy look and the others a curious one before mumbling a 'welcome back' and opening the door.

When it opened it revealed a large man with thick hair and goatee and mustache wearing an apron and some work clothes carrying a bunch of large boxes. He looked to be around 6' 5" tall and was truly an impressive sight, at least for those who had never seen someone so large before.

"Hey, Jinta! It's not time to open yet..." He left off when he caught sight of who was here this early.

"Oh, Kuchiki-Dono!" He said as Rukia walked in. "Please wait just a moment. I'll go and wake the manager."

As he was saying this a man who was around 5' 11", wearing some gray loose clothing and a dark coat with checkers at the hem and wearing a strange green and white striped hat walked in form what was obviously their residential area.

"So sorry. I'm already awake." He said, then released a mighty yawn, making Ranma want to yawn as well. He walked down onto the main floor, slipping into a pair of sandals that awaited him there.

"Good morning, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu." He said as he walked down the aisle. "And welcome, Kuchiki-san, and friends." He said as he finally reached Rukia, bowing to Ranma and Ichigo in greeting. Ranma finally got a good look at him and noticed that his eyes where very shadowed and his hair, while a white cream color, was that way naturally and not from old age.

"We just got some new stock from there this morning. What are you in the market for today?" The manager said with a welcoming smile.

Rukia looked back at Ranma and indicated that he should approach. He walked up, leaving the two kids with Ichigo and Tessai. The manager looked him over a bit and let out a low whistle.

"Well now Rukia-san, what have you brought to me? This is rather strange Reiatsu." He said, still looking at Ranma strangely.

"Well, that's the reason that I brought him here. Ranma, meet Uruhara, the manager of this store and trader of goods from Soul Society." Rukia said.

Ranma bowed. "Nice to meet you, Uruhara-san."

Uruhara bowed in kind. When he straightened he smiled. "Right, well, enough with the formalities. What exactly did you need?"

Ranma looked to Rukia.

"Might as well as tell him everything Ranma." Rukia answered his unasked question.

"Well, it's like this..." Ranma began.

He told them everything, from the point when he contracted the disease till now and even included a couple of his hunches on what was going on. Everyone gathered around and became a silent audience, only asking questions every once in a while and having him give an example of the curse a couple times, leaving him as his female form once again. When she finished, Uruhara leaned back in thought.

"That disease of yours sounds strangely familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it. But that thing with absorbing energy when you defeat a hollow seems to explain how you are rebuilding your body. You are merely taking the excess energy they have and unconsciously use it to build a physical body for yourself. I have no idea how you do it though, that may be an ability unique to your Zanpakutou."

Ranma heard the unfamiliar term again and capitalized on the chance to have it explained. "What is this Zanpakutou thing you keep talking about?"

Uruhara and Rukia and even Ichigo gave Ranma a skeptical look.

Uruhara, seeing the honest confusion in Ranma's eyes, deceided to explain."Well, I guess you wouldn't know. A Zanpakutou, also called 'Soul Slayer', is an extension of your soul, another being that takes the shape of a sword and has a universal ability to cut spirit particles, such as a soul or a hollow, as well as material things. They each have their own unique names and abilities, as well as a unique form."

"Unique form? Mine looks just like any other Katana, 'cept for the fact that it's polished so much that it's like a mirror." Ranma said, failing to see anything truly unique about the sword he uses, except for the fact that he could manifest it at will but he assumed that that was an ability that everyone else had as well, failing to see that fact that Ichigo carried his in a sheath on his back.

"Well, a Zanpakutou has three stages of release. A sealed form, which is what all Zanpakutous first manifest as, looking for the most part like a normal Katana. Then there is Shikai, which is the first release, that shows the Zanpakutous true form and ability. Last, there is Bankai, usually the sword takes on an entity of it's own and grows to a large size, displaying it's users and it's own true power, though it is still more or less under direct control of the Shinigami. Bankai is very hard to control, however, and is considered one of the greatest accomplishments that a Shinigami may reach."

Ranma thought of the implications of the information she had just gathered. _So, this Katana can get even stronger than it already is and so can I. Not only that but it is apparently very special in it's own way. Won't Kuno be pissed if he ever finds out! _Ranma thought with a silent snicker to herself.

Then Uruhara began to speak again, bringing her attention back to the real world.

"Now, I'm not sure but I think your theory on why you cannot manifest your Zanpakutou freely anymore is indeed because your body is now more than sixty percent complete. You will need to convert to shinigami form in order to manifest it again."

Ranma thought on this a while, then groaned as he saw a familiar grin on Uruhara's face, a grin Nabiki always wore when she was about to seal a deal that would earn her more money than her service was actually worth.

"Alright, how much for something to get me out of this body when I need to fight?"

"10,000 yen." Uruhara declared, smiling unashamedly. Ranma grumbled as he ran off to get the money, shouting that he would be back shortly. Then Uruhara turned to Rukia. "Ah, and you needed something as well, right? What was it?"

"A rank D spare fuel rod for a spirit communicator and sixty bottles of soma fixer. Oh, and did you get the item that I asked for yesterday..."

o0o

(Yes, I know that I am skipping a lot of story, but heck, they were mostly fillers in my opinion)

o0o

Ranma ran past Ichigo and the two kids and jumped up onto the roofs, getting her bearing before roof hopping as quickly as she could back to the Tendos, not caring if anyone saw her._ Wow, we really traveled quite a ways away. I don't even think we were in Nerima any more!_ She thought as she flew through the air. She finally reached the house without incident and jumped in through the open window of her room. Carefully looking around to make sure that no one was around, she lifted the panel of the flooring in a corner of the room and stuck her hand into a hole in the woodwork beneath the house. She thanked her luck that no one had yet found her hiding spot for her money and pulled a fat wad of bills out of the hole. Everyone seemed to think that Genma gave Ranma an allowance, not noticing that the pandafied man stole anything valuable whenever he could get his hands on it, even when it was his own son's property.

Ranma snorted at the thought of Genma giving her an allowance. No, she made most of her money working odd jobs whenever she could for the construction companies and occasionally as a bodygaurd, making a decent amount of money for the short times she could work before she had to get home in time for Akane to punt her into LEO for 'spending time with his hussies' as she put it.

Ranma counted out the money and put it in her pocket, replacing the barely touched wad of yen back into his hiding place and making sure no sign of her hiding place remained before she left. She hurried back to the store, though it appears that Ichigo and Rukia had already taken off.

She jumped down from the rooftops and looked around. Seeing no one outside, she walked up to the door and opened it.

"Ah, welcome back, Saotome-san! I take it you wish to buy the separator?" Uruhara greeted her with a smile.

"Yeah, I think it would be a good idea. What happened to Ichigo and Rukia?" Ranma asked, looking around at the strange items on display.

"Oh, they had to go to school or some such." Uruhara replied, walking into the back to retrieve the item.

_School!_ Ranma thought in a panic, then with visible effort calmed herself down._ That's right, don' have to worry 'bout that no more. They have me registered as dead. It would be kinda hard to explain to everyone how I suddenly came back to life. Even my life isn't so screwed up that they would all just take it in stride._ Ranma reasoned, deciding that she no longer needed to bother herself with it.

Uruhara strode back into the room bearing a wrapped bundle and set it on the counter. Ranma took out her money and gave it to him and he quickly counted out the bills before opening the cash register and placing them within. He then picked up the bundle and unwrapped it, revealing two bracers made of some kind of polished anodized steel. They had small, sharp ridges all along their length, looking as if they were made for actual combat.

"Just put these on and you will be able to step in and out of your body at will. They are very strong, so don't worry about them breaking." He said as he handed them to Ranma.

Ranma placed them around her arms and noticed that they were far too large and had no adjusting straps or anything. Before she could say anything, however, the bracers seemed to hear her unspoken complaint and began to shrink and smoothed themselves out to cover most of her lower arms, the ridges expanding and becoming slightly deeper, as if made to grab swords and break them. Ranma moved her arms and hands in all directions and found that they didn't limit her movement in the slightest and felt like it was almost part of her skin.

"You like them?" Uruhara asked, a strange glint of of pride and something else Ranma couldn't make out in his eyes. Ranma nodded her satisfaction, still testing out their mobility.

"I'm so glad! These are a couple of my newest creations. I needed someone willing to test them out. I'm glad they work properly."

"Wait! So I was a guinea pig for your new invention!?" Ranma yelled, incensed at having been manipulated once again.

Uruhara wasn't even shamed in the slightest. "Yes, yes, sorry. But they work, or at least they should. Come on, try it! Concentrate on leaving your body."

Ranma, though still mad at the strange store owner, was very curious on how well they would work. She concentrated on her body, imagining it as energy outside of the body she wore now. She felt a slight tingling sensation, then heard a silent pop as she suddenly found herself in the robes of a shinigami, still white instead of the traditional black that she saw on Ichigo and Rukia, her body falling in front of her as it's means of support left it. She quickly caught it and lay it down gently on the floor, not wanting to have it injured when she got back into it.

"Wow, this is great! Much better than I expected. Thanks, Uruhara-san." Ranma said, glad she didn't have to go through the effort of finding Rukia when she needed to get out. If she even had the time to.

"Glad you like it. Nice doing business with you, Saotome-san." Uruhara said with a smile, as Ranma left, getting back into her body before walking out.

o0o

"Glad you like it. Nice doing business with you, Saotome-san." He said with a smile, as Ranma left with a happy look on her face. He then went in to his office back in the house, a room that no one but he was allowed in. It was filled with strange contraptions and meters and screens and some strange machine in the middle.

He went to one of the computers and sat down, typing in commands rapidly. Soon, the computer locked on to the bracers he had just given to the shape shifting child, displaying a readout on everything he needed to know about Ranma. What he saw astonished him.

Ranma Saotome

Age: Unkown, 16th reincarnation Age: 18

DOB: Unkown, 16th reincarnation DOB: March 17, 1988

DOD: April 14, 2006

Cause of Death: Viral Hollow, destroyed before death, absorbed by soul.

Status: Borrowed Shinigami power, true Shinigami power still in dormant state.

Reiatsu Power level: Equivalent to Lieutenant, restricted. Modifier to release tapped power enabled and ready to use.

Zanpakutou: Unknown, in double sealed state and hiding true form due to borrowed powers.

Zanpakutou abilities: So far only a few are known. Absorption of spirit particles, reshaping and molding of spirit particles, focusing and condensing spirit particles.

Body Reconstruction: 68 percent complete. Spirtit Particle density: 68,000 SPPSI

!!Warning!!

Subject has undue amount of strength!

Physical Power Levels: Equivalent to Commander General, Unrestricted, Released.

Ki Power Levels: Equivalent to Commander General, Unrestricted, Released.

Skill level: Grand Master of many forms of martial arts, many very unorthodox and dangerous. Able to manipulate ki at unprecedented level.

End of Report. Will send additional information as it becomes available.

Uruhara leaned back in his chair, trying to make sense of the information. He hadn't suspected this Ranma Saotome to have such untapped potential. Not only that but his soul, while youthful appearing, was possibly thousands, even a million years old! A sixteenth reincarnation is, while not unheard of, extremely rare. Most souls have been destroyed before reaching that level of development and have to be reconstructed into a new soul. There was also the problem of the functions that he hadn't programmed into the bracers, such as reading the power levels of the physical body and Ki, whatever that was, along with the readings of the skill levels. And the modifier, which he had sealed before giving the bracers to Ranma, was also released. What ever was doing this wasn't under Ranma's conscious control.

Then there was the density of Ranma's body and soul. The body must naturally be as dense as the spirit that it houses or stronger in order to contain it. If the body would reach the density of 100,000 SPPSI upon completion, then Ranma's soul was extremely dense. With that kind of density Ranma could walk right through the barrier around Seireitei, unharmed practically!

To think, that he found two potential Shinigami in the same area! This would allow him much greater mobility in his plans. But, time to find out who gave Ranma his borrowed power. He quickly typed in a command into the computer.

Benefactor of Ranma Saotome: Lieutenant Matsumoto of 10th squad.

"Interesting..." He said, before reaching for a cellphone, dialing a number on it rapidly.

"Yoruichi-san, yes, it's me, Uruhara. I need you to keep an eye on someone for me. His name's Ranma Saotome and has the ability to change genders when splashed with water. He is potentially the greatest Shinigami to be brought about, or he is one of the greatest dangers to this worlds existence..."

Suddenly a new message appeared on the screen.

New Shinigami and high density souls detected near Ranma Saotome.

Location: Nerima Ward, Tokyo

Shinigami: Kasumi Tendo (Dormant), Nabiki Tendo (Awakening), and Akane Tendo(Dormant and Sealed by mystic arts unknown).

High Density Souls: Genma Saotome, Soun Tendo, Happosai Taro, Koh Lon, Ryu Kumon, Xian Pu, Mu Tsu, Ryoga Hibiki, Tatewaki Kuno, and Ukyo Kuonji.

End of Report.

"Really interesting..." Uruhara said after reading the information a couple of times.

"Um, Yoruichi-san, change of plans..."

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A/N: Yes, I know, I didn't get as far into the story as I thought I would. Oh well. Oh, and I guess this is yet another cliffhanger maybe. Hope you like how things are turning out! I think I got this chapter out in reasonable time. Tell me what you think! I accept Criticism, flames, and just general positive or negative feedback.

Ja Ne!


	5. Completion

Shinigami

Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545

A/N: Alright, I guess I should thank some of my good readers for reigning me in. I did not intend for the story to seem like RPG-ism at the end. It was just for effect. Anyways, of the characters I listed in the last Chapter, who would you like to see have a significant role in the story?

Shinigami

Nabiki- She's a given and will be a latent Shinigami.

Akane- She is sealed and will be a 11th squad shinigami if she is unsealed and awakens.

Kasumi- She is dormant and will be a 4th squad if she is awakened.

Reiatsu users

Genma- Martial artist, will have some kind of latent Reiatsu ability.

for Soun, Mousse, Cologne, Shampoo, Ukyo, Happosai, Ryu Kumon, and Kuno see above.

Cast your votes in reviews or pm.

Only Akane or Kasumi will awaken, not both.

Top three of the Reiatsu users will be included.

If you wish to see some specific abilities, then tell me in your PM or email, and show how it is related to the character.

Anyways, on with the show!

Chapter Five: Completion

Ranma jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a huge black arm. He looked up at the hollow that was attacking him and sighed, noting that for a few exceptions all hollows seemed to have the same general shape and strength. They were large, vaguely humanoid, had black skin along with bone plating on their hands, feet, shoulders, and a bone mask covering their faces, slits in the mask revealing chilling yellow eyes and their teeth were extremely sharp.

The hollow attempted to bash the annoying death god again. This time Ranma didn't dodge and caught the hand on his bracers. He then pushed back and sent the hollow stumbling, losing it's balance and falling down.

"Too easy. These things just aren't much of a challenge anymore." Ranma said with a bored expression. He gathered a his ki into a mouko takabisha, then split it in two, holding one of the golden orbs in each hand. As the hollow rose from it's graceless fall, he started throwing mini moko takabishas at it at kachu tenshin amaguriken speeds, hitting it in the face with a barrage of ki attacks.

Ranma had found after a couple of days that ki attacks had little effect on the hollows for some reason. He knew from the couple times he had sparred with Ichigo in his death god form that ki affected him just fine. Hollows seemed to have a natural resistance to ki, they got tired from taking the damage, but it didn't kill them. But that was just fine for Ranma, a foe that couldn't be killed by ki made a great practice dummy, at least until they stopped fighting back. He had made great progress so far in his abilities with ki and in rebuilding his body. He felt that only another hollow or two and it would be complete.

Ranma had been training almost all the time since he had gotten the bracers a week ago, only stopping to eat and catch the little sleep he needed, talking to Kasumi and Nabiki every once in a while. So far Ranma has had the greatest of luck, not once meeting any of his rivals or fiancees. He carefully avoided the house when Ryoga was around, but other than him, Ranma hadn't even seen any of the others.

_Wonder how everyone's doin'?_ He thought as he waited for his opponent to recover. Not disappointing him, it soon got back to it's feet, the many burns and cracks from his attack fading away as they healed. Ranma threw another barrage of the ki attacks at it, causing to fall yet again. He could keep this up for hours now, his ki reserves growing greatly due to all the practice, though he could feel that something was slightly off, as if he was missing something and he had a nagging suspicion that his ki and chi had been really screwed up by the loss of his body. He hoped that when his body was complete everything would be right again.

As he watched the hollow get up yet again, he decided to end this farce. Activating the bracers, he shifted out of his body and drew his Zanpakutou and charged the hapless hollow, not even giving it the chance to get up all the way before sheathing his katana in it's face. It didn't even have time to react before it was being reduced to spirit particles.

"Well, that was a waste of time. They seem to be getting weaker and weaker." Ranma muttered as he examined his body, seeing that the energy he had just received only completed a small part of it, not even as much as last time. Shrugging, he changed his estimation to another ten or so hollows before his body was completed if it continued at this pace.

He re merged with his body and stretched then lay down on the grass. He was currently in a park, somewhere in the Juuban ward, and it was a refreshing summer day. Soon summer vacation would start and he and Nabiki could hang out more often and plan for her college years and whether or not he would go to college, and how.

He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, deciding not to worry for now and simply relax for a bit in the warm sunshine. It wasn't often he had a peaceful moment all to himself when he was alive, and now that he was being revived he was still getting used to it. Sometimes he hated it though. At times, he missed the action and the adventure that being Ranma Saotome brought. He sighed as he watched the clouds pass by overhead. He started to drift off into a nap as the sun warmed him and his use of ki caught up with him.

He was lulled by how warm and peaceful he felt and was soon asleep...

He suddenly woke up when he felt a shadow pass over him and when he opened his eyes he saw a young woman with flame red hair looking down on him in confusion.

"Are you lost, dear?" She asked and Ranma froze in sudden recognition.

He slowly stood up, not knowing how to respond to her question quite yet, and looked her in the eye. He saw confusion, then recognition, then pain and denial cross Nodoka Saotome's features.

"Ranma? No, it can't be! You must be some foul demon taking his appearance! How dare you, you beast." She yelled in fury, drawing the Saotome katana and took up an offensive stance.

Ranma just barely managed to dodge her first strike and rolled to her left. He got up just in time to find the Katana arching for his neck again. He did a backflip over it and landed in a defensive stance, trying to figure out how to get himself out of this situation without losing his head. He really didn't feel like rebuilding his body again, if he even could after a second death.

He realized, as he dodged the razor sharp edge once again, that she was too fast and skilled with it for him to attempt to calm her down. He knew only one way of being able to talk to her safely without hurting her.

"Sorry, mom..." Ranma said, before catching the Katana blade in one of the grooves of his bracer and began to twist. Either her grip would break or the Katana would, but either way she would be disarmed.

Ranma strained against his mother's grip, surprised at how strong she really was, before the Katana finally slipped and flew from her grip, embedding itself in the ground behind Ranma.

"Mom, stop! It's me, Ranma." He said before she could try to retrieve her weapon, getting between her and the deadly blade.

"Impossible! He's dead! You can't be him!" She screamed, her voice becoming hoarse as tears began to flow, the pain in her heart becoming unbearable as she remembered his death.

Seeing her tears, Ranma did the only thing he could think of. He pulled her into a hug. Nodoka stiffened a bit, but soon relaxed into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. Ranma did his best to comfort her, not being the best person at things like this.

"... You're really him? You're really Ranma?" She asked in little above a whisper after getting over the worst of her bout of grief.

"Umm... Yeah... Sorry 'bout this mom." Ranma said, not quite sure how to respond to her.

He was surprised as his mom suddenly burst into tears again, though these seemed to be happy ones, and he heard cries of "Oh my son is back!" and "I'll never let you go again!" As she hugged him tightly.

"Umm... Mom?..." Ranma attempted to gasp out as his source of oxygen disappeared, his face becoming a vivid shade of blue. "Can't... Breathe..."

She instantly let go as she noticed her son's plight, ashamed to have nearly suffocated him.

"Sorry, Ranma. I got a little carried away... I'm just so happy to see you again." She said, a bright smile making it's way to her face. Ranma was glad for it, as he hated it when girls cry, especially his own mother.

"Good to see you too, mom." He said, retrieving her katana from it's earthly sheath and wiping it clean, taking care around the edge. He handed it over to Nodoka who quickly checked it over for damage, then sheathed it when satisfied it was none the worse for the wear.

"So, my son, how is it that you have come back to the land of the living?" She asked, curiosity coloring her features.

Ranma sighed, wondering how many times he would have to tell the story. At least a few dozen if he was unlucky enough to encounter everyone else that knew him well enough to know that he died. Then his stomach made itself known to him as it growled.

Ranma blushed a bit at Nodoka's knowing gaze. Then she smiled. "How about we talk as we go home? I'll cook up something for you."

Ranma smiled at the mention of food, not noticing that she had included him in the act of going 'home'.

"Sure! That would be great, mom!" Ranma said with enthusiasm, making Nodoka's smile grow.

So they began to walk, albeit at a very brisk pace, toward the Saotome residence, Ranma filling his mother in on the details of the afterlife...

"So. You are actually incomplete right now?" Nodoka asked, taking a sip from her cup of tea.

Ranma took a sip from his own, enjoying the relaxing beverage that had just a hint of mint flavoring, before answering.

"Yeah. It'll take a few more hollows before my body is complete."

"Could I see?" She asked, curiosity in her eyes.

"Well, alright, but it's not exactly a pretty sight."

Nodoka shrugged her shoulders, indicating he should just continue. Ranma concentrated on being outside his body a bit and felt the familiar shifting sensation as spirit separated from body. His body fell to the floor, leaving him standing in the white and black robes that he has come to associate with his shinigami powers. Instead of looking at his body as he expected her to, she was instead looking him up and down.

"I must say, those robes seem to suit you. Even dead my son is so manly!" Nodoka said with a smile.

"You can see me?" Ranma asked, deciding to ignore her other comment, though it gave him the chills nonetheless.

"Oh, I guess I never did have the chance to tell you. My side of the family has an extensive history of battling demons and evil ghosts. I guess you could call us unofficial shinigami."

"Huh? Wait, you know of the shinigami?" Ranma asked, confusion obvious on his face.

"Of course! Our family made an agreement long ago with the shinigami. We act as temporary shinigami, protecting those we can until help can arrive. They even issued us standard blank soul slayers, or soul slayers that have no name. That way we can purify the hollows instead of simply destroying them. Also, the fact that we are distant descendants of a shinigami helps as well."

Ranma looked upon the sword at his mother's side with new respect, feeling the power radiating from it now that he focused on it. It was weak, but would probably have the same power as any other soul slayer.

"So, basically, I've inherited this power through you, mom?"

"More or less. It's rare, but some humans are born with the powers of shinigami, but I think most of it comes from your blood, yes. Though I'm not sure how you got so strong. Most of the time a descendant from a cross between a normal human and a shinigami tend to be weak, able to handle only the most lowly of Hollows. Oh, I'm so proud to be able to call you my son!" She shouted the last with joy and hugged Ranma tightly.

"Mom!... Can't... Breathe..." Ranma tried to get out, as his mother crushed the breath out of his spiritual body.

She quickly released him and smiled apologetically.

Ranma took a little time to catch his breath, then smiled up at his mom.

"It's alright mom, I love you too. And I've missed you. I should have gone to visit you sooner, rather than letting you find me. I..."

Suddenly he was cut off by the sound of his cell phone going off, a gift from Nabiki, the pleasant ringtone of Reitoru Deito informing him it was Nabiki. He went to his body and quickly merged with it and took the phone out of his pocket and noticed that it was nearly four o' clock. The message from Nabiki merely said: "Don't be late. I've really been looking forward to this. Oh, and just wear your silk clothes, I really like them."

Ranma closed the cell and put it back in his pocket. He flashed his mom an apologetic smile. "Sorry mom. Gotta cut our reunion short. Got an important date to go to and I don't want to be late."

"A date? With who? Are you finally going out with Akane?"

"Um, no. She's got someone else. I'm going with Nabiki." Ranma smiled with the memory. It had taken him forever to get the courage to ask her out, and when he finally did he thought she would refuse. Therefore he was really surprised when she gathered him in a glomp that even Shampoo would have been jealous of and shouted that she would.

"Oh! My son is soooo manly!" She was about to give him another bonecrushing hug when she stopped and kissed him on the cheek instead. "Don't want you to be late. Hurry up and go. Don't keep the young lady waiting! Just promise to come visit me sometime!"

"Alright, I will!" He shouted as he bounded off to roof jump his way back to the Tendo's. He took a quick bath when he got there and then concentrated on his power, altering his chinese silks and pants to fit his body perfectly, two dragons also appearing on his clothing as he did so, one blood red and the other blue, their tails twining up and around his legs and eventually meeting face to face on his chest. He looked them over a bit.

_Well, I didn't intend to put those on there. But they look really neat, so I guess I'll keep them. _They were very realistic looking, the scales even appearing to have a metallic sheen to them, though when he touched them they felt like normal silk.

Shrugging off the unplanned change, Ranma left the Tendo home and hurried toward the resteraunt were he was to meet Nabiki. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop and made very good time, though he knew that he was a couple of minutes late. He walked in, showing the waiter his reservations as he did, and walked back to the table where he could see Nabiki waiting. He had expected to see her fuming over him being late but instead she wore a slightly amused smile, one that told him that she had expected him to be late no matter how hard he tried to be on time. She was wearing long dark blue jeans that hugged her curves perfectly and a beautiful sky blue top with white clouds with a slightly modest neckline. She was stunning.

"Nice clothes, Ranma. I like the addition to them. Looks good on you." She said as he approached, watching him closely with a slight glint in her eyes that told him that she was not just appraising his clothes.

Ranma was slightly unsure of how to respond to Nabiki anymore. Sometimes she appeared as her old self, emotionless and obsessed with money. At others she was like a totally new person, wearing her emotions openly and making no attempt to hide her lust for him. It threw him off when she acted like she was acting now.

"Thanks, Nabiki. Look, I'm sorry that I'm late, it took me a little longer to get here than I thought it would.."

He stopped when she raised her hand in dismissal. "It's no problem Ranma. To tell you the truth, I didn't really expect you to be on time anyway. Knowing you, even if you happened to leave to get here early, something would have happened to make you late. That's just the way you are when it comes to attracting trouble."

Ranma was about to sit down when he heard it. It was like a high pitched whistle, like the kind used to call dogs, and it called to a part of him that was buried deep.

Nabiki noticed Ranma's sudden change in stance and his sudden attentiveness to something unseen and unheard.

"Ranma? Whats wrong?" She asked, getting slightly worried when he didn't react to her question in any way. She got up and grabbed hold of his arm and shook him a bit and got little response from him. Then she felt the familiar presence. She could never forget the terror she had felt the first time she had sensed this particular force. Hollows, and from the way the feeling kept increasing, there were lots of them and more coming.

"You can feel them too, can't you?" She looked up at Ranma to see him looking at her with concern, and a question, in his eyes.

"Lets go, Ranma. Guess it really doesn't matter how we do it, all that's really important is that we spend some time together. Though I think the resteraunt idea is preferable." She said the last with a smile. Ranma wasted no time in scooping her up in his arms and jumping out the nearby window which a waiter had opened to the pleasant breeze.

Nabiki had been startled at first, as she watched the world fall away from her and she could see quite a large expanse of ground and buildings and people beneath her, but she reminded herself that Ranma was holding her and that she was safe with him. She snuggled closer to his chest and listened to his breathing as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading out to the Karakura district.

They soon reached a bridge where a young girl with bright copper hair and a large man were standing together, staring down at a scene that even Ranma could barely fathom. There were hollows, thousands of them, surrounding Ichigo in his shinigami form and some kid with blue hair and glasses with a bow made of some kind of blue energy. Ranma landed on the bridge and set Nabiki on her feet.

"You two know Ichigo?" Ranma asked as he came up to them.

They both jumped and turned to face him. Ranma quickly changed his estimation of the males age, as he saw that he could barely be fifteen or so. He also looked to be part Mexican or something. The girl was the first to speak.

"Yes, we know Kurosaki-Kun. Who are you?" She asked in a friendly voice that reminded Ranma slightly of Kasumi.

"I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Nabiki Tendo. I'm kinda a friend of Ichigo's. Could you tell me what's goin' on? And who you are?"

"Oh, I'm Inoue Orihime. And this is Sado Yasutora. We aren't really sure about what's going on, all we know is that Uruhara-San brought us here and told us to wait here and watch Kurosaki-Kun fight. Ishida-Kun seems to have gotten caught up in this too."

"I'm guessing Ishida is the blue haired kid. Well, I guess I should go help them out. Could you stay with these two while I go help Ichigo, Nabiki?" Ranma asked, looking toward the woman he knew he was falling for, waiting for an answer.

She seemed to be at the brink of demanding she get to come along but good sense seemed to overcome her urge to help. "Sure Ranma. I'll see what I can find out of what has happened so far."

"Thanks, Nabs. I knew I could count on you." He said as he left his body and then jumped down off the bridge and raced towards the group of hollows and the two trapped within that group.

"Well, guess that saves us the effort of helping them out." Nabiki turned to the source of the voice and found a guy with a striped hat, clerk kimono, and straw sandals standing behind her along with a boy and girl and what had to be one of the largest men she had ever seen.

"Who are you?" Nabiki directed her question toward sandal-hat.

Sandal-hat bowed. "Kisuke Uruhara, at your service. And you are Nabiki Tendo, am I correct?"

"How did you know my name?" Nabiki asked, not liking that he knew who she was without her having ever met him before.

"I've been keeping tabs on Ranma and those around him. It seems that he has the most interesting people surrounding him. Let me ask you, what is Ranma to you?"

Nabiki was caught off guard by this question, not knowing how exactly to answer as she had not really confronted her feelings about Ranma before now.

"Well, I... I.. I guess you could say that I care for him... A lot." She finished lamely, embarrassed that she could barely even give that much of her feelings voice.

"What would you do to be able to fight alongside him?"

"Wait, are you saying I could fight like Ranma does? Against Hollows?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I am saying. So, What do you say?"

"I would do anything in order to fight as his equal." Nabiki said with finality, meaning every word of it. She desperately wanted to be a larger part of his life than just the girl he likes.

Kisuke bowed his head. "Very well. It will be painful and hard at first, but you will survive."

Nabiki furrowed her brow in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about your training. Awakening a shinigami is not easy, even when you are one yourself. But, maybe the help of Kurosaki-kun and Saotome-kun will make the process easier."

Nabiki didn't quite understand what he was suggesting. "You mean, I am a shinigami?"

Kisuke smiled. "Yes, you are, but your powers were sealed, as well as your sisters, by another shinigami of impressive power. It took one of the caliber of Saotome-kun to break the seals on you, though that is because he has strong feelings for you. The seals on your sister, Kasumi, have not broken yet. And the ones on Akane, well, I'm not even sure that they can be broken."

_Seals, huh? Who put those seals on us anyways? Another shinigami..._ Nabiki decided to ask a question that has been nagging her mind for a while now.

"Uruhara-san? How does one become a shinigami anyways?" She asked.

Kisuke looked intently at her, as if trying to see if she was ready for the information, then his gaze softened as he decided it wouldn't hurt.

"Well, it is passed on through heritage. There have been many attempts to swell the shinigami ranks artificially, but they have all failed. We can only wait for reincarnated souls of shinigami to make their way back to seireitei, or for ones such as yourself and Ranma, who are descended from shinigami. In Ranma's case, it is his mother's ancient ancestor. Her clan are unofficial support shinigami, who have just barely enough power to have unnamed zanpakutou. It seems that all the shinigami potential culminated in Ranma, to produce on of such natural power and talent. For you, though, yours is more... Recent."

Nabiki thought of this for a few seconds, then came to the conclusion that Kisuke was waiting for. "Wait... You mean my... Mother?" She asked, her eyes widening in realization.

Kisuke nodded sadly. "Yes. Kimiko did not die of any ordinary disease. She was struck down by one that only affects shinigami, and that only rarely. Her father also suffers under it's effects, though he is able to retain his strength by remaining in soul society. She was a great shinigami, and her loss hit us hard, she had some of the greatest potential we had ever seen. She had one of the strongest ice type zanpakutous in existence."

Nabiki looked on and saw that his sorrow at her mother's passing really was genuine. She too felt the piercing pain in her heart whenever she thought of how her mother had died. She quashed the feeling, not wanting to think of her death. She chose to drop the conversation for now and watch Ranma and the two others fight the hollows, of which there seemed to be no end. Kisuke saw her unwillingness to continue talking, so he too turned his attention to the battle.

Ranma rushed into the battle headlong, using his sword to channel blades of ki out and clear a path before him. He reached the empty area with Ichigo and Ishida in the middle of it, the empty space behind him refilling quickly.

"Who are you?" Ishida asked, with a strained voice, seemingly tired from the endless stream of hollow.

"Ranma!" Ichigo answered Ishida and greeted Ranma at the same time.

"Hi guys, looks like you could use some help. Mind if I lend a hand?"

"I wouldn't mind, but what could you...?" Ishida began, but faltered to a stop as Ranma manifested his zanpakutou. _Such reiatsu... Is he even a normal shinigami? No, there's something different about his reiatsu... Something off... Well, it doesn't matter right now, I'm sure we can win now._

Ishida was about to continue his fight against the hollow, when he noticed they were retreating, back towards a large crack in the sky._ What the hell is that?_

Kisuke looked at the crack and cursed. _Shit, they are going to send one of those here? I didn't think they would risk one of those yet._

Rukia, who had just arrived, looked up in horror at the rip in reality. "A Menos Grande?!! Not even Ichigo will be able to fight that!" She shouted, and was about to run towards Ichigo when Kisuke appeared before, with a restraining arm thrust out.

"Why are you stopping me?" She asked, angry that he would interfere.

"Just watch, this is a test, for both of them."

"Both of them...?" She began, but soon saw the dark haired young man named Ranma whom she had met a few days ago, wielding a zanpakutou and making short work of what hollows remained around him, the residual spiritual force of the sword leaving trails of light behind. The speed was blinding, almost unseeable for her eyes, which was saying something, as she was quite an accomplished shinigami herself. It seemed as if something was tricking her eyes. She attempted to see the exact movements of the blade, and soon came to a shocking realization. The blade wasn't truly moving all the way through the swing. It would start in the arch, and then would flicker along with Ranma's body, and suddenly would be at the end of the arch. She turned to Kisuke who had a bemused smile.

"Impressive, isn't it? From what research I could glean from the bracers, the zanpakutou Ranma-kun wields is quite unique, and dangerous. It has two types, the only one that I have ever seen that has that. The first is light, and the second is shadow. Polar opposites, which could indicate something about Ranma himself. Anyways, this causes a combination apparently, which is the supertype of a mirror. Now, mirrors can technically bend space and even time. What you are seeing now is the time subtype. Time speeds up for him, allowing him to make sword strikes at incredible speeds. The space subtype has so far only shown itself when he manipulates his clothing, which I suspect to be the least of it's potential but manifested as it proved useful to Ranma-kun."

Rukia looked on, entranced by his movements. "Able to manipulate space and time... A mirror?"

"Indeed, and whats even more, I suspect that he could even mimic the abilities of other zanpakutous if he ever saw them even once. After all, what good is a mirror if it cannot reflect?"

Rukia's eyes widened. "Mimic the abilities of other zanpakutou? That could be very dangerous..."

"Indeed, so, we should watch over Ranma, and try to gain his trust and ally with him if possible. He would be a dangerous enemy, even untrained in his own power."

Rukia agreed silently and watched what Ranma and the others would do, while still worrying about Ichigo.

Ranma looked up from the last hollow, who's body was already disintegrating, to the giant rip in reality which was quickly growing as more hollow entered it, revealing a gargantuan hollow behind it.

He looked at the other two who were equally awed. Their eyes met and they all nodded, and they ran toward the rip.

They got near the base of the rip just as the Menos stepped out. It was really big, easily measuring thirty stories tall, with a large white mask with a very fine pointed nose. Before Ranma or Ishida could decide how to take the thing on, Ichigo rushed at it and slashed at its foot. The strike seemed to have no effect at all as Ichigo was caught on the foot when the Menos took a step and was flung backwards.

They ran to where Ichigo was picking himself up and Ishida immediately laid into him.

"You idiot! How did you expect to beat this thing like that?"

Ichigo gave him a blank look that told Ranma that he wasn't really thinking at all.

"Well, I thought that if I started at the legs I could cut him down to size and eventually get to the head." Ichigo stated simply.

Ishida looked at him incredulously. "Do you always think so childishly?"

"Whatever." Ichigo started to stand up but nearly stumbled, Ishida catching him before he fell. This put one of Ishida's hands on Ichigo's zanpakutou. Immediately his bow grew to four times it's original size.

"What the?" Both Ichigo and Ishida asked at the same time, surprised by the reaction.

Ishida seemed to get over his shock first and figured out what was happening quickly. "Ah, I see. You're reiatsu is concentrated in the zanpakutou, and when I touch it I absorb it and channel it to my bow. We may be able to beat this thing after all!"

Ichigo brushed Ishida's hand off of his sword, Ishida's bow instantly reverting back to its former power, and turned to face the Menos once again.

"Sorry Ishida. Not my style. I'd rather face off against him with my own strength." He ran forward and delivered another powerful stroke to the Menos' leg, this time the blade bit a little deeper which seemed to have only the effect of getting it's attention. It looked down in irritation and Ranma instantly felt a buildup of a huge amount of concentrated reiatsu. A large ball of coruscating blue energy was forming in front of the Menos' mouth, aimed directly for Ichigo, who seemed to be frozen in place.

"Ichigo! Run! You cant survive a 'Zero' at your strength!" Ranma heard Rukia yell. Ranma had no time to do anything as the Menos fired and the last he saw of Ichigo before it hit was of him raising his sword to block the attack. Then there was a large explosion and Ranma was nearly thrown back. Then he felt an immense reiatsu coming from where Ichigo was. He looked and saw that Ichigo was still there and seemed to be glowing with reiatsu. All the reiatsu concentrated into the tip of his zanpakutou and he swung with all of his might, the reiatsu being released as a blade of deadly energy that completely ripped through part of the Menos, wounding it badly.

It roared in pain and began to retreat back into the rip in reality when Ranma realized this was his best chance to complete his body, now that it was gravely wounded. He concentrated and dregged up as much reiatsu as he could, which to all sensitive was quite a massive amount, and replicated Ichigo's feat, releasing a blade that was ten times stronger than Ichigo's. It ripped through the Menos, cutting it's entire body in half. It quickly dissipated, the rip closing up without the Menos' powers to keep it open, and Ranma felt a huge inrush of energy as his sword absorbed the spirit particles that made up the Menos' body. He felt the completion of his body as a physical sensation, as if something missing of him had been finally returned. Then he felt the drain on his spirit from releasing so much reiatsu at once.

He looked over to Ichigo to see that he had the same problem, or so it seemed. When Ranma stretched his senses to Ichigo however, he felt massive reiatsu leaking from him, and it was steadily building. It soon took on physical manifestation as his zanpakutou began to warp from the massive energy that was being concentrated into it.

Ishida seemed alarmed at this and rushed to Ichigo's side. "Damnit! His Reiatsu is unstable! He'll die at this rate!"

He kneeled down and placed his knee upon the zanpakutou, and his bow increased in size.

Sensing what Ishida had in mind, Ranma walked over to them and placed a hand on Ishida's shoulder. He looked up at Ranma questioningly.

"Let me try, maybe I can help us both." Ranma stated simply.

Ishida looked at Ranma incredulously, then seemed to get the idea and nodded at Ranma gratefully as he knew that doing what he was about to do would have put a huge strain on him and his powers. He got up and let Ranma take his place.

Ranma set his zanpakutou's blade upon Ichigo's zanpakutou, and like an inactive wire leaching off a wire with a strong current, Ranma felt Ichigo's reiatsu fill him. At first it was wild and unstable, then slowly it evened out and came back into it's owners unconscious control. As soon as Ranma felt that he broke the connection and let his zanpakutou merge with his body once again. Then, as the adrenaline of the excitement wore off and no one was in any danger any longer, Ranma's actions caught up with him and the darkness of sleep overtook him...

To Be Continued...

A/N: Sorry it took so long everyone! I've been busy with school and have been working on all my stories at once, as well as two or three new ones. This is the first update for a while and I apologize for it's tardiness. Other updates should be following this one soon, hopefully, though I'll try not to post the new stories for a while as I have plenty to deal with right now. Oh, and does anyone play FF XI ? On the Kujata Server hopefully? Need some help with my character and would like to PT with someone. On FF XI I'm Lethander Elvaan (War 9, Mnk 21, Whm 8, Blm 10, Rdm 8, Thf 1). Thnx everyone!

Seras out. Till Next Time!


	6. Consequence of Reflection

Shinigami

A Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545

A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone! I've been very busy lately and now I'm officially part of the Navy! I get shipped out by January 22nd of 2008 for bootcamp and Nuclear Engineering Training. So I'll try to get out as many chapters as I can before then. Anyways, I have decided on who to awaken and who will have enough reiatsu potential to help Ranma out in his battles.

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Chapter 6: Consequence of Reflection

Ranma once again found himself in his Inner Sanctum as he had come to call his soulscape. He looked around for a few seconds and when he couldn't find the girl who usually showed up and talked to him, he decided to explore. First, he wanted to see what the reflected world was all about.

He found that he was able to control the basic physics of this world with ease and jumped up to just off of the visible division of the world. He looked into the reflection and saw himself on the other side, looking through with the same look of inquisitiveness and curiosity he himself wore. He floated a little closer to get a better look, the other mimicking everything as a proper reflection should, until he got within a foot of the division. Then the reflection's face twisted into a smile that promised pain and reached through the division and grabbed Ranma's shirt, as what looked like a hollow's mask began to form on the other's face, the pupils becoming small and hard as the iris' became an evil looking deep golden yellow.

"Careful, partner. I may just take you and your power for myself if you aren't. In fact, I think I will now, I'm sure Nabiki will enjoy my embrace as I choke the life out of her."

Hearing the things voice, which sounded like a horrible cross between a hollows and a high pitched version of his own, and what it planned to do, Ranma began to struggle violently, to little avail. The thing's grip was far stronger than any he had ever felt before. He was being drug inexorably into the other side, white hot pain flashing up his arm as it crossed over, the pain ripping agonized cries from him. The smile came closer and closer and the pain reached a pinnacle of agony for Ranma as it's now bone covered hand closed over his face and he felt his flesh melting and being ripped from his bones...

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"... AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ranma woke up screaming, his head pounding viciously and his sight fading in and out, ringing loud in his ears. He could just barely make out the shape of someone in front of him, and could tell they were trying to say something, but he couldn't hear anything around the ringing. He clutched his head and tried to hold himself still, the ringing eventually subsiding into an annoying buzz and the pounding becoming a mere twinge with every heartbeat. He felt very drained and empty though, and the world seemed quieter and muted. As his vision focused, he realized that the shape he saw was not one person, but two. One being Uruhara, the other being Nabiki. Both had a slightly worried look on their faces.

"What happened?" Ranma asked, his voice cracked and scratchy, his throat parched from lack of water.

Nabiki held out a glass of water which he accepted gratefully and gulped down greedily, tasting sweeter than anything he had ever had before. Uruhara sighed in relief when Ranma spoke and was able to drink the water without any help.

"Well... I'm not sure. I would think it fair to guess that you took in too much spiritual power. It's like pouring gas on an already roaring fire, it became so intense that it just burned out." He said this with a grimace, knowing that Ranma would eventually get the message.

Ranma blinked a couple of times, then the realization of the intended meaning of Uruhara's words hit him.

"Burned out...? You mean, I don't have any reiatsu left?!" At Uruhara's nod, Ranma immediately began to focus and reached within himself, searching for the burning furnace that his reiatsu had become during his training and the reconstruction of his body. He felt nothing. Not a single drop or sign that he had ever had spiritual powers. He felt empty.

"W-what does this mean? I mean, if I have no reiatsu left, then what am I now?" Ranma asked, numb from the knowledge that he no longer had any power in the spiritual world.

Uruhara was glad he seemed to be taking this well, though he was a rather unique individual anyway. "Well, with your body apparently complete, albeit made of spirit particles rather than actual living matter, you're technically alive again, though in an immortal body."

"Huh? Wait, so you mean I won't age or die or anything like that?"

"Well, you can still die, but it would be rather redundant in your case so long as the force killing you isn't filled with reiatsu. But since your body is made of such heavily condensed spirit particles I think you'll find that almost nothing short of a continent falling on you would make much of an impact. Just steer clear of the hollows and over zealous shinigami and you'll be fine."

"Fine huh... But what about Rukia and Ichigo and the spirits? Will I still be able to help them?"

"No. Since you have no reiatsu left you don't have the ability to harm any of the stronger hollows. You would be more of a hindrance to them than a help now. Sorry."

The feeling of emptiness was now heavily compounded by uselessness as well. Feeling that he was getting close to understanding Ryoga a bit better, Ranma felt the crushing weight of depression on his heart and soul. Ranma slowly got to his feet, brushing off the attempts by Nabiki and Uruhara to keep him in bed, and started walking toward the door.

"Ranma! Where are you going? You're still not well, you should rest. Ranma?"

Ranma turned his head and looked at her, seeing the concern written on her face and showing through her eyes. He could also see the sympathy and sorrow. Worse, he could see the core of reiatsu within her burning and growing, as if in mockery of his own lost power. He turned away, unable to look any more, knowing that now he was even unable to protect her from hollows, a far deadlier enemy than anything he was likely to face in the normal world.

"I... I need some time to think." He managed to say, before rushing out of the room and bounding out of an open window. He leapt to a rooftop and began to aimlessly jump from roof to roof, all the while the thoughts of how useless he was and the words from the creature in his dreams bouncing around in his mind. Without realizing it he had traveled to Kamakura and the sun had already set, twilight setting in as the lights of the city turned on and stars began to shine their light down on the world. Ranma stopped at a long street when he saw Rukia running down it. She had a determined and yet sorrowful look on her face. Ranma was about to go out and greet her when he heard a shout.

"YES! You do get it."

Rukia turned in surprise and looked up a nearby power pole and Ranma followed her gaze. Crouching on top of the pole was a rather large and stocky figure, the features and colors hidden by the dark shadows. Despite this Ranma recognized the robes of a shinigami, though these were slightly different from the ones he had worn and the ones Ichigo wore. He drew a sword and as he did so his features were lit by the light of the full moon. He had long spiky red hair that was held in place by a metal headpiece and some ties, a sharp chiseled face and strange black tattoos running along the sides of his face and his neck.

"Well... To put it another way... Since you stayed on this side for so long... You basically got to live just a little longer... Rukia!"

_Wait, "live a little longer?" What does he mean by that? Isn't he a shinigami? Isn't he on Rukia's side?_ Ranma itched to go down and sort this mess out, but the empty feeling within him just wasn't going away, and it was a constant reminder that when it came to anything spiritual, he was useless.

Rukia's eyes widened as she took in who was facing her.

"Renji... Abarai Renji?!"

Renji made no response, simply jumped up in the air and raised his sword to strike. Rukia jumped away just in time as the sword came crashing down and struck the concrete. As it did so, Ranma could see and feel the immense reiatsu contained within that strike as it lit the street in an eerie green glow. As the glow died down, Renji smiled disdainfully at Rukia as he rose from the semi crouch that he had landed in. Rukia was standing just inches from where the sword had passed through, a shocked expression on her face. Ranma really wanted to go down and fight her attacker, but from the amount of reiatsu he was feeling and the fact that he was hiding even more made Ranma unsure of whether or not he would have been able to beat him. So much as he hated it, he just continued watching.

"You had a pursuer from Soul Society closin' in behind you and... you were so lost in thought that you didn't even realize it until I spoke? I don't care if you are in a faux body, in just these two or three months... you've gotten way too soft."

He raised his sword from the now heavily cracked concrete and let it rest on his shoulder.

"Spit it out, Rukia... Where's the human who took your powers?"

Rukia flinched, obviously not happy with the situation.

"What are you talking about! Just 'cause I'm in a faux body doesn't mean my powers were taken! Furthermore, what makes you think the one who supposedly took them was human?"

"He IS human. Otherwise, you... Wouldn't have that stupid human expression on your face!"

Rukia's eyes widened, shocked by something or other, though Ranma couldn't tell what. What did he mean by human? Weren't all shinigami human at one point or another?

"You're just another kid from Rukongai like me... and still you were lucky enough to get taken in by the noble house of kuchiki! With all the money and effort spent on you, weren't you supposed to become one of the shinigami elite?! Eh! You're Kuchiki freakin' Rukia, damn it!"

Renji raised an accusing finger to point at Rukia, his face becoming thundrous with anger and his finger shaking from its force.

"There's no way it's right for you to wear that human expression!"

He then looked up and over the shoulder of Rukia, his face taking on a calmer and more professional demeanor.

"Ain't that right, Captain Kuchiki?"

Rukia stiffened, disbelief on her face, as she turned to face the figure standing just a few feet behind her. This man was a bit taller than Renji, with long black hair that was styled with an ornate headpiece and with a white scarf-like object around his neck. He had an aristocratic face with fine features that showed a state of emotionless objectivity.

"Byakuya, nii-sama..." Rukia manged in a stammer, her surprise and fearful respect clearly showing in her eyes.

The hell? So this guy is her adopted brother? Ranma shifted a bit of his wieght, slightly uncomfortable with the amount of reiatsu the guy seemed to be unconsciously spilling out across the neighborhood.

"Rukia..."

Rukia continued to stare at him for a little bit before she sensed something and just barely managed to roll out of the way of Renji's attack, though the leading air pressure tagged her enough to send her flying back. Rukia used the momentum to complete the backflip and used her hands to stop her momentum. She got up to her knees and glared at Renji, a cut starting to bleed on her face. Renji raised his sword to just below Rukia's throat.

"The transfer of shinigami powers to a human is a felony, ya know. Leaving the execution to us, instead of the correction corps, was probably the brass' version of kindness. Now, spill the location, Rukia. We're here... to capture you...and kill the guy who took your powers."

Rukia got to her feet, ignoring Renji's sword and took a defensive stance.

"Don't protect him. You realize it, don't ya? You didn't dodge my first two attacks. I let you dodge them. My next attack will kill you."

With this he started advancing on Rukia, who started to back away from him. He took a ready stance and slashed forward. Rukia neatly leapt over the blade and Renji, trying to open some more space between them. Renji saw her intention and leapt into the air and nearly decapitated her with a downward strike, Rukia just barely able to dodge to the side, the wind from the attack blowing her away and off balance. She tumbled down the street a bit before managing to gain control over her momentum and stop it once again with her hands, leaping back into a crouch to face her attacker and then getting up, staggering a bit from the attack and then grabbing her arm in pain and falling to her knees.

"Well now..." Renji said as he advanced on the prone Rukia. He raised the sword to deliver the killing blow and Ranma was about to jump in to save her when Renji seemed to be distracted by something. Suddenly a large blue bolt flew straight through where Renji's head had been a second before. Both Renji and Ranma were stunned by this, and watched as a figure came up down the street.

"Two armed men attacking an unarmed girl...Not a very pleasant thing to see."

The figure walked forward into the light to reveal itself as Ishida carrying something in a grocery bag.

"I don't really like that sort of thing."

Renji looked at him with an aggressive gaze. "You can see us... who the hell are you?"

Ishida reached up an hand to correct his glasses.

"Just a classmate."

"Classmate?"

"One that hates shinigami, that is."

Rukia managed to get to her feet and looked back at Ishida, worry on her face.

"Why are you here?"

"Just a coincidence. Its nothing for you to worry about. If you must know..." He lifted the bag which had sunflower sewing on it. "I suddenly wanted to go to this 24 hours a day seamster shop shop chain, sunflower sewing...and was simply walking around this neighborhood in the middle of the night."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"It's not like I was concerned when I felt a shinigami presence and brought this bag from home just for an excuse."

_Woah... I didn't know he was mentally challenged._ Was everyone's thoughts.

"Well... I don't blame you for being surprised, but..."

Suddenly a sword flashed and Ishida was left holding the handles of his bag, now laying on the floor with it's contents spilled. A cut started bleeding on the side of Ishida's wrist.

"I'm askin' you a question over here. I said...Who the hell are you?"

When Ishida didn't answer, Renji shrugged.

"Well, if you don't feel like answerin' thats fine too. I'll just kill you first."

Rukia moved in between Renji and Ishida.

"Wait Renji! He's not a part of th-"

"What are you talking about?" Ishida interrupted. "I gave you an answer. I'm just one of Kuchiki Rukia's classmates. One that hates shinigami, that is."

"I call that not answerin'!"

Ishida sighed, and gave Renji a weary look.

"I'm Ishida Uryuu. Pleasure to meet you."

Renji got a puzzled look on his face.

"Eh? What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, I just thought even a shinigami would at least want to know the name of the one who defeated him."

Renji began shaking, though whether it was from excitement, anger, or mirth Ranma couldn't tell because Renji was smiling, though it looked kinda twisted.

"Thats it... I'm gonna kill you!"

Renji flashed out of sight for a second, then reappeared. Ishida looked surprised for a second, then fell to the ground, blood pooling beneath him. Rukia was completely stunned and helpless, and Ranma cursed himself, knowing that he was even more powerless than Ishida right now against guys like these.

"See, I told you so."

He moved forward to deliver the last blow, Rukia unable to move and Ranma useless.

"Okay then, guess I'll finish the job. Before you die, remember this well... Abarai Renji... It's the name of the man who killed you."

"Wait!" Rukia tried to move to protect Ishida but was too slow.

"Pleased to meet ya!" Renji shouted as he brought the sword down.

Suddenly a huge sword blocked his, a large crater formed by the pressure of their meeting.

Renji leapt back away from the area onto a fence.

"Who the hell're you?!"

Ranma rejoiced to see Ichigo standing next to Ishida and Rukia, the pressure of his reiatsu forming whirlwinds around his feet.

"Kurosaki Ichigo... The man who is going to take you down. Nice to meet ya."

"Shinigami clothes?! What squad are you with?"

Ichigo shouldered his sword, giving Renji a good view of it's size.

"What the HELL is up with that huge-ass Zanpakutou?!"

"What? So this is big then? I thought it was pretty big compared to Rukia's. Anyways, till now, I haven't had anyone to compare with."

Renji looked a little shocked.

"The hugeness of ones Zanpakutou is the hugeness of ones reiatsu... How could such a kid have such a friggin' big zanpakutou?"

Rukia looked completely surprised and a little angry and scared for some reason, and ranma thought he knew why. Ichigo might not be a match for these guys even.

"So that's it. I get it. So you're the guy who got his powers from Rukia?"

Renji's voice roughened as his anger came to the fore. Ichigo looked a little confused for a second before he had to block the powerful overhead attack by Renji.

"Come on. Come on. Come on!" Renji yelled, punctuating each word with another powerful blow, pushing Ichigo back by shear force.

"Is your big ass sword just for show? Eh?!" Renji continued attacking, pushing Ichigo even further back. Ranma could see the worry and frustration on Ichigo's face._ Shit, c'mon Ichigo, you can do it!_ Ranma mentally cheered him on.

Ichigo finally stopped the momentum of the attacks and pushed Renji's sword back and launched an attack of his own. Renji dodged and did a maneuver in the air and drew first blood, slicing from the top of Ichigo's shoulder down his back.

Ichigo's eyes widened in pain and Rukia shouted his name in alarm and tried to go to his side, but Ishida grabbed her leg and stopped her.

Ranma turned his eyes back to the two fighters.

"It's over, I'll kill you and the powers will go back to Rukia... Then...Rukia will die in Soul Society."

Ichigo's eyes widened, and for some reason the light above them went out.

"But, man! You're one dumbshit! Rukia went to the trouble of leaving alone to keep you out of this. All you had to do was sit quietly at home... but instead you came after her. Did you think you could do anything at all? You're just an overnight shinigami."

Renji's expression became arrogant. "You couldn't even put one scratch on us real ones."

Suddenly Ichigo's sword flashed and Renji's eyes widened in surprise. A cut started bleeding on Renji's chin. Ichigo was standing again and was in a ready stance.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting you, but you were so wide open my hand just moved on it's own. Tell me the rest. What was that about 'one scratch'?"

Renji put a finger against the cut. "You piece of shit..." Renji then got into a stance as well.

"You relaxed too much, Renji." The man named Byakuya spoke up for the first time since the fighting began. "That child, 'Kurosaki Ichigo'... I thought I had seen his face before. The other day we had a report from the secret mobile corps... That he inflicted a sword wound on a Menos Grande... and that another with high reiatsu destroyed it."

Suddenly, Renji laughed and continued laughing for a bit. Then he became serious and arrogant again.

"I can't take it. The quality of the S.M.C.'s been slidin' lately. This kid... wounded a Menos Grande?! And someone else with him other than a shinigami destroyed it? I couldn't believe that story even if I had wanted to! I mean, just look captain. His zanpakutou... It's huge but otherwise it's an utter disgrace! It's obvious he can't control his own reiatsu."

Ranma nodded at that, knowing to be truly a fact. However, he also knew that the size of the sword was mainly because of all the reiatsu Ichigo leaked unconsciously, it was the bare tip of the iceberg.

"What's the name of your Zanpakutou?"

"Huh? Name?" Ichigo asked, confused.

Ranma was also confused, as the girl in his soulscape also tried to tell him her name. He wanted to know it, but all the same he also wanted to know what was so important about it that even a shinigami would endeavor to find it out.

"Did you even ask?"

"You mean, ask Rukia? You name every one o' these things?"

"I knew it. You can't even ask your own Zanpakutou's name. A bastard like that... trying to fight me like an equal is 2000 years too early!"

_Well... Why does that sound familiar?_ Ranma thought with a gramace as he remembered his training under the old ghoul.

As he spoke, Renji moved his sword horizontal and placed his hand on the base of the blade. Then quickly moved his hand down the blade and behind was left a transformed blade. It was quite a bit bigger and larger than the katana it had been, with large sharp blades radiating out along it's edge, looking like some kind of jaw from a large animal with fanged teeth.

"Howl, Zabimaru. Look ahead. What's in front of you is your food!" Saying this, Renji leapt into the air.

Ichigo blocked the first attack, or at least it seemed. The sword turned out to have flexible sections made of cable and wire that allowed it whip like movement and flexibility along with greatly increased range.

The blade extended and literally bit into Ichigo's shoulder, causing Ichigo to drop his sword in pain and surprise. Renji then did something that caused the sword to begin to retract, ripping and digging into Ichigo even more before finally ripping out of what was left of Ichigo's shoulder in a spray of blood and gore.

"It's over.You're going to lose to me, Abarai Renji, and die here!

Ichigo fell to his knees as Renji's sword retracted into it's normal form.

"Sorry kid, that's what they call the power gap. A Zanpakutou changes its size and shape depending on it's owner's reiatsu, and this is the shape of my reiatsu! Alright, kid, it's about time for me to leave. The air here does'nt suit me."

Renji brought his sword to striking position. Ranma was fully rooted to the spot, unable to move to help his friend, or rather, as he has come to fear, unwilling.

"Here it comes. Got nothing to say?"

When Ichigo didn't answer, Renji started his attack. At the same time Rukia also ran forward, shouting for him to stop. She grabbed onto his arm and latched her body anto it and placed her knees into the small of Renji's back, immobilizing him. But Ranma knew it was only temporary, as the gap between both their size and strength was too great.

"What are you doing, Rukia!? Damnit, let me go! You tryin' to get yourself into deeper shit?! Let me go you dumb shit!"

"Run away, Ichigo! Stand! Get up and run away!" Rukia screamed.

Ichigo didn't seem to hear her though, as he reached down and grabbed hold of his Zanpakutou, causing both Rukia and Renji to stop struggling.

"What the hell? You still have the strength to move?" Renji finally threw Rukia off himself and stood to his full height. "Just what the doctor ordered. I was just thinkin' of how much a drag it would be to finish off someone who is almost dead anyway."

Ichigo got to his feet unsteadily, never once looking up, seeming to be in his own world, barely even registering the pain he must be in.

"Alrighty then, lets have one more down and dirty bloodletting before you die."

"Ichigo, if you can stand then run away. Run Ichigo!" Rukia screamed at him, but he seemed to not hear her. Then Ranma felt it, the massive power that he had felt the other day when Ichigo had hurt the Menos Grande. Then he realized it. If he had no spiritual power left, why was he still able to see spirits and shinigami? Why was he still able to see reiatsu and feel it? Why? His thoughts were knocked off track when he noticed Renji getting ready to attack again.

"Well, if you're not going first then I will!"

Suddenly, it was if someone had just broken the dam on Ichigo's reiatsu as it suddenly burst into flame around his sword and displaced the air around him. The force was enough to make Renji brace himself, testament to how much power was flowing from Ichigo. Suddenly Ichigo moved and then was lost to sight. He then reappeared among a spray of blood. At first Ranma worried it was another loss, but then noticed the shocked expression on Renji's face and the blood pooling within his robes around a tear in his shoulder.

"What the hell?!" Renji shouted as he turned to face Ichigo once again. Ichigo charged forward, his dark expression not once changing, his shape blurring with his speed as he swiped at Renji. Renji was able to block just in time as Ichigo released a huge blast of reiatsu that flung Renji up into the air.

_What is this feeling? It's familiar, yet different. I can feel it within myself as well. Just as he was, it was small and weak right now, burnt out. But still there. Which meant he still had power. It was the yin to his reiatsu's yang, the dark to his light. The second piece which made him whole. The key to heaven and hell. It was the power of the hollow._

"I see now..." Ranma muttered, returning his attention to the fight. He couldn't do anything about it right now, as it seems that something was wrong within him, something that prohibited recovery.

Renji had landed and righted himself, though in the process of doing so he found his headguard cut in half and a large cut on his forehead. He looked up at Ichigo, who was now smiling, though it looked twisted with madness, with fear and confusion.

"Whats wrong? You've gotten hella slow alluva sudden!" Ichigo taunted Renji, his reiatsu increasing even more.

_No, you've gotten faster. Which makes little sense considering how much damage you've taken._

"I dunno what this is, but it feels good... Right now, my wounds don't hurt, and I'm not even a tiny bit worried about losing to you!"

Renji's face became clouded with anger and he stood and prepared to launch his whip attack once again.

"Howl! Zabimaru!" He swung the extended fang sword out in an arc, intending to bisect ichigo at the navel.

Ichigo countered the first with pure reiatsu, dodged the second attempt, and countered the third overhead strike with his own lightning fast attack.

Ichigo then began chasing a now retreating Renji around the street, his spiritual force growing with every strike. Rukia and the shinigami captain, Kuchiki, simply watched, the first with astoundment, the latter with dis-interest.

"You sure are good at scurryin' around like a rat ain't ya? But that ends now!" Ichigo shouted, making another overhead attack on Renji, who seemed to be currently paralyzed by the weight of Ichigo's presence.

Just as Ichigo's sword was coming down, Ranma spotted a movement and then everything changed. Ichigo stood over a still trembling Renji, holding the stump of his sword in bewilderment. Ichigo looked at Renji first, then dismissed him. He then looked at the captain. Ranma saw the disbelief on Ichigo's face as he spotted the rest of his blade resting in the man's hand. The man dropped the blade disdainfully and began to draw his own blade. Ichigo turned to face the attack, but even Ranma, who was faster than Ichigo usually, couldn't see what happened. All that Ranma saw was that the man was suddenly behind Ichigo and Ichigo was falling, two stab wounds spraying blood.

"How slow... Even in defeat."

"Byakuya-niisama!" Rukia shouted, finally over her shock at the events.

Renji himself seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, not even noticing when Ichigo's body hit the floor.

"Something wrong, Renji?"

Renji started, shook from his thoughts. "No, sir... You didn't have to step in for such a weakling. I could have finished him."

"No need to say that. Even my skills will rust if all I do is stand and watch all the time."

"Ichigo!" Rukia's shout brought everyone's attention back to Ichigo's prone form and herself. She began to run towards his body when Renji got up and intercepted her.

"Forget it!" He shouted as he grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to a crosswalk sign.

"Let me go, Renji! Ichigo's..."

"The hell're you talkin' about? Take a closer look! That brat is dead!"

_Dead?... No... No way... No way in hell!_

Ranma began to run to Ichigo, to fight his way to him if need be. He would not stand by idly while a friend was in such danger.

_**What the hell do you think you are doing?! We are not ready yet! We are too weak!**_

Ranma ignored the voice within him and continued to run toward Ichigo.

_**I SAID NO!**_ The voice rumbled within Ranma. Ranma felt a flash of awareness within his own and then pain and then he felt and saw nothing...

o0o

Uruhara looked at the prone form of Ichigo and sighed, knowing that Ichigo had been brash and had lost. He walked forward to pick him up when he noticed movement from the shadows. Ranma walked forward, though it was not Ranma as Uruhara could tell. It was the hollow instinct of survival. It turned it's black and yellow eyes on Uruhara, then it's eyes rolled into the back of it's head and Ranma's form crumpled.

"Oh my. Well, it seems we have two now. Well, this will make it easier I guess." Uruhara mumbled to himself as he picked both prone forms up and leapt off into the night. Leaving nothing behind except the pools of blood which were being cleaned away by the rain which had grown heavier since the fight...

o0o

A/N: Well, I'm getting this chapter out fairly late, but better late then never, eh? I'm currently working on several other stories, so I'll have to ask my faithful fans to be patient. I find that I cannot focus on just one story, as the one I work on depends on my mood. Anyways, hope to get more chapters out soon. Ja ne!


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